VOA标准英语2008年-Italy Arrests Imam Linked to Morocco Suicide Bo

Italian police have arrested a Muslim imam from Morocco who has been linked to suicide bombings in Casablanca in 2003. The imam of a mosque¹ in the northern Italian city of Varese was picked up at his home in Italy and Italian authorities say they plan to extradite him to Morocco. Sabina Castelfranco reports from Rome.

Abdelmajid Zergout, 43, is well known to the Italian authorities. He was arrested in 2005, along with two other Moroccans on suspicion of raising funds and recruiting for the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group.

That organization was blamed for the 2003 Casablanca attacks in which 45 people were killed, including 12 suicide bombers². Moroccan authorities have requested his extradition³ from Italy and want to try him for participating in acts of terrorism.

A Milan court last year acquitted⁴ Zergout. But he still faced expulsion. This was suspended at the urging of the European Court of Human Rights, which argued that he and the other two Moroccans would face mistreatment by authorities back in their own country.

On Saturday the Italian police decided⁵ to follow up on the Moroccan extradition request and arrested Zergout at his home in Varese. A laptop and some documentation in Arabic were confiscated⁶ during a search of his home.

An Italian court now has 40 days to decide whether he will be handed over to the Moroccan authorities.

Maurizio Grigo, the chief prosecutor⁷ of Varese, says the imam was picked up in an area where there are a number of individuals involved in recruiting, training and gathering⁸ financing for subjects involved in acts of terrorism.

For his part, Zergout's Italian defense⁹ lawyer, Luca Bauccio, said the new charges against his client had been "fabricated against an innocent man who has not set foot in Morocco for 10 years". He added that he would be appealing against the extradition request.

1 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

2 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 extradition   

n.引渡（逃犯）

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight,awaiting extradition to Britain.这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• He began to trouble concerning the extradition laws.他开始费尽心思地去想关于引渡法的问题。

4 acquitted   

宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现

参考例句：

• The jury acquitted him of murder. 陪审团裁决他谋杀罪不成立。
• Five months ago she was acquitted on a shoplifting charge. 五个月前她被宣判未犯入店行窃罪。

5 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。

6 confiscated   

没收，充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Their land was confiscated after the war. 他们的土地在战后被没收。
• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。

7 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

8 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

9 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。