US Military Vacates Pakistani Air Base

 　　U.S. military vacated an air base in Pakistan's southwest Sunday, meeting a December 11 deadline set by Islamabad in response to NATO's November 26 air strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

　　The Pakistani military said it took over the Shamsi base in Baluchistan province shortly after the last U.S. personnel departed.

　　The Pakistani government ordered the move as part of several punitive¹ measures reflecting Pakistani anger about the deadly incident.  Islamabad also closed its border crossings to trucks delivering supplies to NATO forces in land-locked Afghanistan and boycotted² an international conference in Bonn on Afghanistan's future.

　　There was no immediate³ confirmation⁴ of the base withdrawal⁵ from U.S. officials.

　　Pakistan accused NATO forces of deliberately⁶ targeting Pakistani soldiers during an operation against militants⁷ on the border with Afghanistan.  The U.S. military and NATO deny the charge and have launched investigations⁸ of the incident.

　　U.S. intelligence experts say the withdrawal from the Shamsi air base is not likely to have a major impact on the drone war in the border region because the U.S. military can fly the unmanned planes out of air fields in Afghanistan.

　　In another development, two prominent Pakistani Taliban members have denied claims by the group's deputy chief Maulvi Faqir Mohammad that the militants are engaged in peace talks with Islamabad.

　　Mohammad had announced Saturday that negotiations⁹ with the government were progressing well and could soon lead to an agreement.  The Pakistani government has not confirmed any negotiations with the militants but officials have spoken of a need for dialogue.

　　The United States has long pressured Pakistan, a major U.S. aid recipient¹⁰, to fight the Islamist militants who use bases in Pakistani tribal¹¹ regions to attack U.S.-led NATO forces in Afghanistan.

　　Also Sunday, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani denied reports that President Asif Ali Zardari suffered a stroke and offered to resign.  Mr. Zardari flew to the United Arab Emirates Tuesday after falling ill.  Medics say the president likely suffered a transient ischemic attack, which can produce stroke-like symptoms but no lasting¹² damage to the brain.

　　Mr. Gilani said the president was making good progress and needs to rest for two more weeks before returning home.

1 punitive   

adj.惩罚的，刑罚的

参考例句：

• They took punitive measures against the whole gang.他们对整帮人采取惩罚性措施。
• The punitive tariff was imposed to discourage tire imports from China.该惩罚性关税的征收是用以限制中国轮胎进口的措施。

2 boycotted   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Athletes from several countries boycotted the Olympic Games. 有好几国的运动员抵制奥林匹克运动会。
• The opposition party earlier boycotted the Diet agenda, demanding Miyaji's resignation. 反对党曾杯葛国会议程，要宫路下台。

3 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。

4 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

5 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

6 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

7 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

8 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

9 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

10 recipient   

a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器

参考例句：

• Please check that you have a valid email certificate for each recipient. 请检查是否对每个接收者都有有效的电子邮件证书。
• Colombia is the biggest U . S aid recipient in Latin America. 哥伦比亚是美国在拉丁美洲最大的援助对象。

11 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

12 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。