VOA标准英语2009年-Al-Qaida Affiliated Groups Claim Respo

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb is claiming responsibility for last month's kidnapping of three Spanish aid workers in Mauritania and a Frenchman in Mali.

Scott Stearns | Dakar 08 December 2009

 
Undated handout¹ photo with unknown dateline supplied by the Gerardmer-Tidarmene association shows Pierre Camatte (R), 61, posing with an unidentified man. Camatte was kidnapped overnight on 25 Nov 2009 in Menaka, northern Mali.

A terrorist group affiliated² with al-Qaida is claiming responsibility for last month's kidnapping of three Spanish aid workers in Mauritania and a Frenchman in Mali.  

The Algerian-based group al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb made the kidnapping claim in an audio tape given to the Al Jazeera television network.

A man identifying himself as Saleh Abu Mohammad says that France and Spain will be informed later about the kidnappers³' demands.

Spain says it can not confirm the validity of the claim, but is investigating the report.

Three Spanish aid workers were kidnapped November 29 south of the Mauritanian city, Nouadhibou, on the road to the capital, Nouakchott.  Gunmen abducted⁴ a Frenchman in eastern Mali, November 26.

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb is a Sunni organization which was formerly⁵ known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat.  It began as an insurrection against Algeria's secular⁶ military rulers after they canceled parliament elections in 1992, when it appeared a coalition⁷ of Islamist groups might take power.

It has since expanded and aligned⁸ itself with the broader al-Qaida terrorist network, claiming responsibility for suicide bombings in Algeria last year and the kidnapping of two Austrian tourists in Tunisia who were later freed in Mali.

The group also claimed responsibility for last December's kidnapping of Canadian diplomat⁹ Robert Fowler and his aide in Niger, as well as the abduction of four European tourists returning from a nomadic¹⁰ cultural festival in January.  One of those tourists was killed.

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb says it killed an American teacher in Nouakchott in June, because he was allegedly trying to convert Muslims to Christianity.

It is considered a terrorist group by the U.S. State Department and the European Union.  

 

1 handout   

n.散发的文字材料；救济品

参考例句：

• I read the handout carefully.我仔细看了这份分发的资料。
• His job was distributing handout at the street-corner.他的工作是在街头发传单。

2 affiliated   

adj. 附属的, 有关连的

参考例句：

• The hospital is affiliated with the local university. 这家医院附属于当地大学。
• All affiliated members can vote. 所有隶属成员都有投票权。

3 kidnappers   

n.拐子，绑匪( kidnapper的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They were freed yesterday by their kidnappers unharmed. 他们昨天被绑架者释放了，没有受到伤害。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The kidnappers had threatened to behead all four unless their jailed comrades were released. 帮匪们曾经威胁说如果印度方面不释放他们的同伙，他们就要将这四名人质全部斩首。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

5 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

6 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

7 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

8 aligned   

adj.对齐的，均衡的

参考例句：

• Make sure the shelf is aligned with the top of the cupboard.务必使搁架与橱柜顶端对齐。

9 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

10 nomadic   

adj.流浪的；游牧的

参考例句：

• This tribe still live a nomadic life.这个民族仍然过着游牧生活。
• The plowing culture and the nomadic culture are two traditional principal cultures in China.农耕文化与游牧文化是我国传统的两大主体文化。