VOA标准英语2008年-Scotland Yard Team Briefs Musharraf on Bhutto M

By Nancy-Amelia Collins
Islamabad
08 January 2008

A team of forensic¹ experts from Britain's Scotland Yard briefed Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on their ongoing² efforts to help with the probe into the assassination³ of former prime minister and opposition⁴ leader Benazir Bhutto.  VOA's Nancy-Amelia Collins in Islamabad has more.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf told a six-member team from Britain's Scotland Yard it has complete freedom to carry out an investigation⁵ into the December 27 assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.

The interior ministry⁶ spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema told reporters Mr. Musharraf assured the Scotland Yard team, which arrived in the country last week, no one would interfere⁷ in its investigation.

Respected Pakistani political analyst⁸ Talat Masood says the murder of the popular Ms. Bhutto will haunt the country for years to come.

"This case is never going to close.  And I tell you that it will haunt the government and the country for years to come," Talat said. "People will not be satisfied, they have no trust in the government anymore, even if it does all the right things.  So that is why they are calling for this independent U.N. commission."

Bhutto supporters have called repeatedly for an independent U.N. commission to investigate the assassination.

Ms. Bhutto was killed while campaigning in the garrison⁹ town of Rawalpindi on December 27.  Her death led to three days of rioting that claimed the lives of more than 50 people and cost millions of dollars worth of damage.

The government blames Ms. Bhutto's assassination on Islamic militants¹⁰ linked to al-Qaida, a charge the militants deny.

Television footage of the assassination shows a gunman firing three shots to the back of Ms. Bhutto's head, then her hair and veil lifts up and she slumps¹¹ down in her car, where she had been standing¹² in the sunroof to wave to her supporters.  Immediately following this is a suicide bomb blast.

The government initially¹³ said Ms. Bhutto died from the blast shock, which caused her to hit her head on the lever of her sunroof.

Ms. Bhutto's supporters say she was killed by a gunshot to the head and blame elements within the government for her death.

Political analyst Masood says Ms. Bhutto's death has weakened Mr. Musharraf, who came to power in 1999 after leading a coup¹⁴.

"I think his position has been weakened by all these events and I think the murder of Benazir Bhutto was a major setback¹⁵ for him, as well as for the country," Masood said. "It only goes to show how casually¹⁶ and how callously¹⁷ they treated the security and other aspects of Benazir Bhutto."

Ms. Bhutto had complained of lack of security before her death, and said elements within the government were trying to kill her, a charge the government denies.

1 forensic   

adj.法庭的，雄辩的

参考例句：

• The report included his interpretation of the forensic evidence.该报告包括他对法庭证据的诠释。
• The judge concluded the proceeding on 10:30 Am after one hour of forensic debate.经过近一个小时的法庭辩论后，法官于10时30分宣布休庭。

2 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

3 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

4 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

5 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

6 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

7 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

8 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

9 garrison   

n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防

参考例句：

• The troops came to the relief of the besieged garrison.军队来援救被围的守备军。
• The German was moving to stiffen up the garrison in Sicily.德军正在加强西西里守军之力量。

10 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

11 slumps   

萧条期( slump的名词复数 )； （个人、球队等的）低潮状态； （销售量、价格、价值等的）骤降； 猛跌

参考例句：

• Deflation could emerge from simultaneous slumps in the world's three major economies. 如果世界经济三大主体同时衰退，通货紧缩就会出现。
• This is the cycle of economic booms and slumps. 这是经济繁荣和经济萧条的周期变化。

12 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

13 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

14 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

15 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

16 casually   

adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地

参考例句：

• She remarked casually that she was changing her job.她当时漫不经心地说要换工作。
• I casually mentioned that I might be interested in working abroad.我不经意地提到我可能会对出国工作感兴趣。

17 callously   

参考例句：

• Sri Lanka has callously ignored calls for a humanitarian cease-fire. 斯里兰卡无情地忽视人道停火的呼吁。 来自互联网
• The pendulum ticks callously, heartlessly. 这是谁的遗训？ 来自互联网