VOA常速英语2008年-Palestinian Factions Agree to Direct Talks in Y

By Challiss McDonough
Cairo
23 March 2008

At peace talks in Yemen, the two warring Palestinian factions² have agreed to hold direct talks for the first time since the collapse³ of their unity⁴ government in June following the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip. Officials in Yemen had hoped to broker⁵ a truce⁶ between Fatah and Hamas, but settled for a joint⁷ declaration signed in Yemen's capital city, Sanaa. VOA Middle East Correspondent Challiss McDonough has more from our bureau in Cairo.

The most significant part of the Sanaa declaration may be the fact that top officials from Fatah and Hamas were standing⁸ in the same room at the same time in order to sign it.

The two factions have not met face-to-face since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in June, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dissolved the unity government that had been forged at earlier peace talks in the Muslim holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

Mr. Abbas's Fatah faction¹ has said it would not hold direct talks with Hamas until the militant⁹ group relinquished¹⁰ control of the Gaza Strip.

Senior leaders of Fatah and Hamas had been meeting separately with Yemeni officials since Tuesday in an effort to broker a new truce. The talks nearly broke down on Thursday and failed to produce a peace deal, but Yemeni officials touted¹¹ as progress the signing of a joint statement accepting Yemen's peace initiative as a basis for dialogue.

The declaration signed Sunday is mainly an agreement to hold more talks - these ones face-to-face - over a Yemeni proposal for a peace deal between the two factions.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh witnessed the signing of the declaration and said it will build confidence between the two factions. He urged Fatah and Hamas to stay calm and not to "escalate¹² things through the media," He said Yemen will host the next round of talks in April.

He did not give a precise date, but Palestinian sources indicated it could be at the beginning of the month.

The Yemeni proposal calls for creation of another Palestinian unity government, new elections and eliminating factional alliances in the Palestinian security forces.

Almost as soon as they signed the declaration, the two factions appeared to be at odds¹³ over what it meant, with Fatah downplaying its significance and Hamas touting¹⁴ it as a breakthrough.

Speaking by telephone from Yemen, senior Hamas political bureau member Mohammed Nasr said the joint declaration is significant. He said the resumption of talks between Fatah and Hamas "means a sparkle of hope for the Palestinian nation to renounce¹⁵ division and move toward unity."

In another development related to Gaza, Egyptian authorities have released at least 33 Hamas members that were detained in Egypt after the Gaza border was breached¹⁶ in January.

Egypt has been holding separate talks with Hamas and Fatah as well, partly in an effort to broker a truce between the two factions and partly in order to reach a deal on managing the controversial Rafah border post. It is the only border crossing out of the Gaza Strip that bypasses Israel, and it has been largely closed since Hamas took over the territory in June.

In January, militants¹⁷ knocked down the border fence, and for 11 days hundreds of thousands of Palestinians moved freely into Egypt to visit with relatives and to buy vital supplies that had been unavailable in Gaza during an Israeli blockade.

1 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

2 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

3 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

4 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

5 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

6 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

7 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

8 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。

9 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

10 relinquished   

交出，让给( relinquish的过去式和过去分词 )； 放弃

参考例句：

• She has relinquished the post to her cousin, Sir Edward. 她把职位让给了表弟爱德华爵士。
• The small dog relinquished his bone to the big dog. 小狗把它的骨头让给那只大狗。

11 touted   

v.兜售( tout的过去式和过去分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• She's being touted as the next leader of the party. 她被吹捧为该党的下一任领导人。
• People said that he touted for his mother and sister. 据说，他给母亲和姐姐拉生意。 来自辞典例句

12 escalate   

v.(使)逐步增长(或发展)，(使)逐步升级

参考例句：

• It would tempt Israel's neighbors to escalate their demands.它将诱使以色列的邻国不断把他们的要求升级。
• Defeat could cause one side or other to escalate the conflict.失败可能会导致其中一方将冲突升级。

13 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

14 touting   

v.兜售( tout的现在分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• He's been touting his novel around publishers for years. 他几年来一直到处找出版商兜售自己的小说。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Technology industry leaders are touting cars as a hot area for growth. 科技产业领袖吹捧为增长热点地区的汽车。 来自互联网

15 renounce   

v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系

参考例句：

• She decided to renounce the world and enter a convent.她决定弃绝尘世去当修女。
• It was painful for him to renounce his son.宣布与儿子脱离关系对他来说是很痛苦的。

16 breached   

攻破( breach的现在分词 )； 破坏，违反

参考例句：

• These commitments have already been breached. 这些承诺已遭背弃。
• Our tanks have breached the enemy defences. 我方坦克车突破了敌人的防线。

17 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。