VOA标准英语2009年-Diplomats Work Against the Clock to Mediate Gaz

The Egyptian capital, Cairo, is buzzing with diplomatic activity, as European and Arab diplomats¹ scramble² to put together a cease-fire in Gaza, amid increasingly strident calls from Arab public opinion to halt Israel's invasion of the enclave.
　

Egyptian Pres. Hosni Mubarak (C) meets with the EU diplomatic mission to the Middle East in Cairo, 05 Jan 2009

A delegation³ of European Union Foreign Ministers, followed by a visit by French President Nicholas Sarkozy within 24 hours, are leading off a new round of diplomatic activity here in the Egyptian capital Cairo, as Arab public opinion continues to call for an immediate⁴ halt to hostilities⁶ in Gaza.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, said President Mubarak has sent messages to Israel, via diplomatic channels, urging it to, in his words "return to the language of reason."

Aboul Gheit also said Egypt is hosting a delegation from the militant⁷ Palestinian Hamas movement, which controls Gaza, to discuss how to reach a cease-fire with Israel:
　

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (File)

He said Egypt has asked Hamas to send a delegation with authority to negotiate to Cairo to discuss how to achieve a cease-fire and to mediate⁵ some sort of inter-Palestinian reconciliation⁸ with the rival Fatah faction⁹ of President Mahmoud Abbas.

Damascus-based Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal has said on several occasions that his group will no longer recognize the legitimacy¹⁰ of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas when his term in office officially ends on January 9.

Hamas is also demanding that all six border crossings into Gaza be opened for a cease-fire to be concluded. Egypt, on the other hand, wants both the European Union and President Abbas' Fatah faction to control the crossings before they can reopen.

To further complicate¹¹ the situation, Damascus-based Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Abdallah Challah, insisted that such a solution will be opposed by his group and Hamas, and foreign observers [who come to monitor a truce¹²] will be treated as hostile forces.

He said anyone contemplating¹³ such an [international] solution and thinking of sending their sons to Gaza as part of an international force should be warned that the resistance will consider them an enemy come to protect Israel.
　

Egyptian Pres. Hosni Mubarak (R) meets with Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan at Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, 01 Jan 2009

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has shuttled across the Middle East during the past week to mediate a cease-fire in Gaza, accused Israel of "not respecting a truce" that was being negotiated with Hamas. He accused Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of "not respecting Turkey's role" in the diplomatic mission, as well.

Syrian Foreign Minister Waleed al-Muallem, on a visit to Ankara, declared that Damascus had broken off indirect peace talks with Israel, out of respect for the people of Gaza.

Indirect peace talks with Israel, he said, were supposed to be conducted in the absence of any Israeli military actions, [as he said Turkey is aware]. So, he said, it was normal to cut the talks off when Israel brutally¹⁴ attacked Gaza.

Arab demonstrators, meanwhile, continued to take to the streets in various cities, putting further pressure on mediators to reach a cease-fire. For the second day, demonstrators in Beirut tried to break through barbed wire to reach the U.S. Embassy, but were turned back by riot police.

In the Persian Gulf¹⁵, Qatar's Emir Hamid ben Khalifa al Thani told al Jazeera TV that a disputed emergency Arab summit should be held at week's end if no diplomatic solution to the Gaza crisis is reached before then.

1 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。

3 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。

4 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

5 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。

6 hostilities   

n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事

参考例句：

• Mexico called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. 墨西哥要求立即停止敌对行动。
• All the old hostilities resurfaced when they met again. 他们再次碰面时，过去的种种敌意又都冒了出来。

7 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。

8 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。

9 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。

10 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

11 complicate   

vt.使复杂化，使混乱，使难懂

参考例句：

• There is no need to complicate matters.没有必要使问题复杂化。
• These events will greatly complicate the situation.这些事件将使局势变得极其复杂。

12 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。

13 contemplating   

深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想

参考例句：

• You're too young to be contemplating retirement. 你考虑退休还太年轻。
• She stood contemplating the painting. 她站在那儿凝视那幅图画。

14 brutally   

adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地

参考例句：

• The uprising was brutally put down.起义被残酷地镇压下去了。
• A pro-democracy uprising was brutally suppressed.一场争取民主的起义被残酷镇压了。

15 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。