VOA标准英语2008年-Lebanon Holds National Reconciliation Talks

Lebanon's top political leaders are meeting at the presidential palace in a bid to reach a national reconciliation¹ pact² among feuding³ factions⁴. Attempts to get the pro-Iranian Hezbollah to disarm⁵, however, are threatening to derail the talks, as Edward Yeranian reports for VOA from Beirut.
　
Leaders of 14 political factions meet for talks headed by President Michel Suleiman, center, at the Presidential Palace in suburban⁶ Baabda, Lebanon, 16 Sep 2008

Fourteen of Lebanon's top political leaders have been meeting at the country's presidential palace, overlooking Beirut, amid tight security, in a bid to resolve months of bickering⁷ and political paralysis⁸. President Michel Suleiman, who was elected in May following a political agreement in Qatar, is heading up the talks.

President Suleiman began the round-table meeting with a plea to rival politicians to come up with an agreement for the sake of the country.

Mr. Suleiman says that in agreeing to these talks the leaders agree that no matters are off-limits, but that all issues are open to discussion and agreement. He said the one thing that is forbidden, however, is failure or stalemate.

The main topic of debate, and principal subject of discord⁹, is what to do about Hezbollah's military arsenal¹⁰, amid demands from Lebanon's pro-Western "March 14th alliance" that the group disarm. But Hezbollah, backed by Syria and Iran, is insisting that its military wing be made part of Lebanon's official national defense¹¹ strategy.

Lebanon's first reconciliation talks in June 2006 ended without agreement, and were followed by a bloody¹² summer war between Israel and Hezbollah. A second attempt at reconciliation in May of this year brought an end to 18 months of political feuding with the election of President Suleiman and the formation of a national unity¹³ government.

Al-Jazeera Television reports that Hezbollah is asking to enlarge the talks to include more participants, while Saad Hariri, parliamentary leader of the March 14th Alliance, is calling the maneuver¹⁴ a tactic¹⁵ to allow Hezbollah to legitimize its armed presence.

Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah is not attending the talks, due to security reasons, and his party's parliamentary chief, Mohammed Raad, is taking his place. Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa is also attending.

Beirut's Daily Star newspaper asked rhetorically, in today's editorial, if President Suleiman can keep Lebanon's politicians from destroying their country?

Dory Chamoun, who heads Lebanon's National Liberal Party, part of the March 14th Alliance, argues that past attempts at reaching a national accord do not leave him optimistic that a solution will be reached, this time around.

"I am not terribly optimistic because of what happened before. We have already had two reconciliation reunions," said Chamoun. "One was in Lebanon, the other one was at Doha, and they were not respected 100 percent, the way they should have been."

No deadline has been set on when the reconciliation talks will end. Another session is to be held October 5.

 

1 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。

2 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

3 feuding   

vi.长期不和（feud的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Riccardo and Cafiero had been feuding so openly that the whole town knew about it. 里卡多和卡菲埃罗一直公开地闹别扭，全城的人都知道此事。 来自辞典例句
• The two families have been feuding with each other for many generations. 这两个家族有好多代的世仇了。 来自互联网

4 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

5 disarm   

v.解除武装，回复平常的编制，缓和

参考例句：

• The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. 全世界等待伊拉克解除武装已有12年之久。
• He has rejected every peaceful opportunity offered to him to disarm.他已经拒绝了所有能和平缴械的机会。

6 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

7 bickering   

v.争吵( bicker的现在分词 )；口角；（水等）作潺潺声；闪烁

参考例句：

• The children are always bickering about something or other. 孩子们有事没事总是在争吵。
• The two children were always bickering with each other over small matters. 这两个孩子总是为些小事斗嘴。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 paralysis   

n.麻痹(症)；瘫痪(症)

参考例句：

• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。
• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。

9 discord   

n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐

参考例句：

• These two answers are in discord.这两个答案不一样。
• The discord of his music was hard on the ear.他演奏的不和谐音很刺耳。

10 arsenal   

n.兵工厂，军械库

参考例句：

• Even the workers at the arsenal have got a secret organization.兵工厂工人暗中也有组织。
• We must be the great arsenal of democracy.我们必须成为民主的大军火库。

11 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。

12 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

13 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。

14 maneuver   

n.策略[pl.]演习；v.(巧妙)控制；用策略

参考例句：

• All the fighters landed safely on the airport after the military maneuver.在军事演习后，所有战斗机都安全降落在机场上。
• I did get her attention with this maneuver.我用这个策略确实引起了她的注意。

15 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。