VOA常速英语2014--Even Talking is Hard for Syrian Negotiators 与叙利亚代表团艰难的谈话

 

Even Talking is Hard for Syrian Negotiators 与叙利亚代表团艰难的谈话

LONDON — Syrian government and opposition¹ negotiators met in Geneva this week for a first round of talks, but they were fraught² with difficulties, not only on substance but on what to talk about and even how to talk about it.

伦敦---叙利亚政府和反对派谈判者本周在日内瓦见面为首次成功谈话，但是他们困难重重，不仅是在物质上谈论,甚至如何谈论它。

The delegations⁴ from the government and opposition issue sharp criticisms of each other as they arrive for each meeting at the United Nations' Geneva headquarters.  And that is the only time they are seen.  They have not allowed any photos to be taken as they sit across from each other inside the conference room.

来自叙利亚政府的代表团和反对派当他们每次出席在日内瓦总部的联合会议上关于彼此的问题批评锋利。并且这只是他们唯一看到彼此的时间。他们不允许任何照片被拍当他们彼此面对面坐在会议室的时候。

The mediator⁵, veteran Algerian diplomat⁶ Lakhdar Brahimi, is the man in the middle.

调停者，一个富于经验的阿尔及利亚外交官拉赫达尔·卜拉希尔，坐在他们中间的人。

“One delegation³ is on the right and the other on the left and they face one another and they talk to one another," he said. "No, they talk through me to one another.”

"一个代表团坐在我的右边，另一个代表团坐在我的左边并且他们他们面对这另外一个人和跟另外一个人谈话。"他说"不，他们通过我去和另一方谈话。

And that is the closest they come to negotiating.  About half the time, they are in different rooms, meeting separately with the mediator, a situation that generates media reports of problems and breakdowns⁷ in the talks.

这是在他们共计的谈判中最接近的时候。有一半的时间他们在不同的房间，在开会的时候被调停者分离，这样的位置便于是媒体报道在交谈中出现的问题和故障。

But it is often more productive to meet with hostile parties separately, according to former U.S. diplomat Daniel Serwer of the Middle East Institute, who helped negotiate the end of the Bosnian War 20 years ago.

但是面对敌对派的分离经常是更有成效的，根据从前的美国外交官丹尼尔，瑟维尔。在中东协会上的谈判，他帮助结束了波斯湾战争在20年以前。

“It’s only when they’re in separate rooms that you can hope to get a little bit more from them -- why they want something, whether they can give something," he said. "All of that is done out of the hearing of the other.”

"只有当他们在分离的空间时你才能希望从他们身上得到一些甚至更多--为什么他们想要这些东西，是否他们能给予一些东西，"他说。"所有这些完成的听证会。"

And there is another aspect of these talks, which was on display during the preliminary meeting the previous week. The main backers of the Syrian government and opposition - Russia and the United States - officially called on the U.N. to host these talks. A week later, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Makdad indicated their delegations are never far away.

关于他们谈话的另一方面，展现在前几周的初始会议期间。主要的叙利亚政府支持者和俄国反对派还有美国--正式称作UN主持了这次谈话。一周之后，叙利亚代理人外交部副部长费萨尔，表明他们的谈判永远很远。

“The two initiators are also in different rooms sitting beside. I think our Russian friends are playing a positive role," he said. "I don't know what Robert Ford⁸ is doing on the other side, but you see he failed to bring even a credible⁹ delegation to the discussion.”

这两个发起人也是坐在旁边不同的房间。我认为我们的俄国朋友正在扮演一个积极的角色，他说。我不知道罗伯特.福特正在另一边做什么，但是，你可以看出面对这次讨论他并没有带来任何可靠地谈判。

Robert Ford is the U.S. ambassador to Syria, and he heads the American delegation at the Geneva talks. His boss, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, made clear last week that the tense negotiating room in Geneva is not the only venue¹⁰ for Syria peace efforts.

罗伯特.福特是美国助叙利亚大使，在日内瓦谈话中他领导美国代表团。他的老板，美国洲际秘书长约翰，他在上周清晰的表明紧张的日内瓦空间谈判并不是唯一的集合地关于叙利亚和平的努力。

“What you see in the direct talks between the opposition and the Assad regime will not be the full measure of effort being expended¹¹ in order to try to find a solution here,” he said.

"你所看到的反对派和阿萨德政权之间的直接谈话将不会为了寻找一个解决方法而采取更充分的措施，"他说。

 

And that could be particularly important because these talks, whether together or separately, are moving at best in what the mediator calls “half steps.”

可能尤其重要,因为这些谈判,无论是在一起还是分开,正以最好的中介所说的"半步"。

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 fraught   

adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的

参考例句：

• The coming months will be fraught with fateful decisions.未来数月将充满重大的决定。
• There's no need to look so fraught!用不着那么愁眉苦脸的！

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 delegations   

n.代表团( delegation的名词复数 )；委托，委派

参考例句：

• In the past 15 years, China has sent 280 women delegations abroad. 十五年来，中国共派280批妇女代表团出访。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• The Sun Ray decision follows the federal pattern of tolerating broad delegations but insisting on safeguards. “阳光”案的判决仿效联邦容许广泛授权的做法，但又坚持保护措施。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

5 mediator   

n.调解人，中介人

参考例句：

• He always takes the role of a mediator in any dispute.他总是在争论中充当调停人的角色。
• He will appear in the role of mediator.他将出演调停者。

6 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。

7 breakdowns   

n.分解( breakdown的名词复数 )；衰竭；（车辆或机器的）损坏；统计分析

参考例句：

• Her old car was unreliable, so the trip was plagued by breakdowns. 她的旧车老不听使唤，一路上总是出故障。 来自辞典例句
• How do we prevent these continual breakdowns? 我们如何防止这些一再出现的故障？ 来自辞典例句

8 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

9 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

10 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

11 expended   

v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 )；使用（钱等）做某事；用光；耗尽

参考例句：

• She expended all her efforts on the care of home and children. 她把所有精力都花在料理家务和照顾孩子上。
• The enemy had expended all their ammunition. 敌人已耗尽所有的弹药。 来自《简明英汉词典》