VOA常速英语2008年-Arab Summit Closes Amid Sharp Divisions

By Challiss McDonough
Cairo
30 March 2008

A controversial and partly boycotted² Arab League summit has ended in the Syrian capital, Damascus, with no progress on the Lebanese political crisis and a summit declaration that Iraq refused to endorse³. Despite the obviously sharp divisions among the delegates, Syrian officials have portrayed⁴ the meeting as a success. VOA Correspondent Challiss McDonough has more from our Middle East bureau in Cairo.

The Arab summit broke no new ground on the most critical regional issues, in the absence of nearly half of the leaders of Arab League states.

Leaders say they had frank talks about the economy and other matters, but there was little in the way of progress on the issues that have most divided the Arab world and prompted a partial boycott¹ of the meeting, including the Palestinian factional divide and the political crisis in Lebanon.

Lebanon boycotted the summit, accusing host Syria of blocking the election of a new Lebanese president, charges Syria denies. In solidarity⁵ with Lebanon, three other key Western-allied countries, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, sent only low-level representatives to Damascus.

The summit's host, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, acknowledged that there were sharp divisions among the delegates, but he argued that those differences strengthened the summit rather than weakening it.

He said the closed-door session Saturday was "outstanding" and "free of flattery." He said everyone spoke⁶ frankly⁷ and respected the discussion, despite their many differences.

In the earlier opening session, that frankness and difference of opinion was on public display in the remarks by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, who excoriated⁸ his fellow leaders for their disunity and inability to act together.

The sharp divides among Arab states were evident even in the summit's declaration, which the Iraqi delegation⁹ refused to endorse.

At the final session, Iraqi Vice¹⁰ President Adil Abdul-Mehdi said Iraq was formally expressing its reservations about the text. He indicated that it was not what they had agreed to during the closed session.

He said it failed to pledge support for the Iraqi government in its efforts toward national reconciliation¹¹ or to condemn¹² terrorism and violence.

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad said the Iraqi objections would be noted¹³ in the record, but his foreign minister later said the document itself would not be amended¹⁴.

The conference declaration called for Iraq to disband all militias¹⁵ and work to speed up the withdrawal¹⁶ of all foreign troops from the country.

The summit made no breakthrough on the Lebanese political crisis, the main issue that prompted so many countries to scale back their representation at the meeting. But delegates emphasized their support for efforts by Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa to mediate¹⁷ a solution.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al-Moallem rejected the allegation that the summit's success hinged on making progress on Lebanon.

He said "The issue of Lebanon was raised during the closed session, but the leaders decided¹⁸ it was not appropriate to discuss Lebanon during its absence."

Delegates at the summit also renewed their support for the Arab peace initiative aimed at ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But they also said that the offer will not remain on the table indefinitely, and indicated they could review their strategies on peace with Israel, depending on Israel's response.

The initiative was first proposed in 2002 and re-launched last year. It offers Israel normal relations with all Arab states in exchange for Israeli withdrawal to its borders before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

1 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

2 boycotted   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Athletes from several countries boycotted the Olympic Games. 有好几国的运动员抵制奥林匹克运动会。
• The opposition party earlier boycotted the Diet agenda, demanding Miyaji's resignation. 反对党曾杯葛国会议程，要宫路下台。

3 endorse   

vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意

参考例句：

• No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
• I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。

4 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

8 excoriated   

v.擦伤( excoriate的过去式和过去分词 )；擦破（皮肤）；剥（皮）；严厉指责

参考例句：

• His palms were excoriated by the hard labor of shoveling. 他的手掌因干挖土的活儿而磨破了皮。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His palms were excoriated by the hard labour of shoveling. 他的手掌因挖土之苦工而破皮了。 来自辞典例句

9 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

10 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

11 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

12 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

13 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

14 Amended   

adj. 修正的 动词amend的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He asked to see the amended version. 他要求看修订本。
• He amended his speech by making some additions and deletions. 他对讲稿作了些增删修改。

15 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

16 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

17 mediate   

vi.调解，斡旋；vt.经调解解决；经斡旋促成

参考例句：

• The state must mediate the struggle for water resources.政府必须通过调解来解决对水资源的争夺。
• They may be able to mediate between parties with different interests.他们也许能在不同利益政党之间进行斡旋。

18 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。