Bombs Rock Baghdad

 　　A series of bomb blasts hit the Iraqi capital Thursday, leaving at least 63 dead and more than 180 wounded.  The attacks came as Iraq is gripped in a political crisis between Shi'ite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Sunni political rivals in the government.

　　Ambulances ferried casualties to hospitals across Baghdad following the multiple explosions that seemed to target mostly Shi'ite areas.  Witnesses say most of the apparently¹ coordinated² attacks occurred as people were heading off to work.

　　Iraqi government TV indicated that four explosions were of car bombs, while 10 were the result of roadside bombs. Baghdad's security chief said police found and disabled six other car bombs before they exploded.

　　The Sunni Arab satellite channel al Baghdadiya also reported failed assassination³ attempts against a top central bank official and a police general, and a rocket attack in a Shi'ite neighborhood.

　　There were no immediate⁴ claims of responsibility.

　　Hassan, a witness to one of the bomb blasts, complained that innocent civilians⁵ were paying the price of quarrels among politicians. He warns politicians to stop making innocent people pay for their disagreements.

　　The terror attacks come during the political crisis which erupted this week when Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite, tried to arrest Sunni Vice⁶ President Tariq al-Hashemi, accusing him of involvement in terrorist plots.  Hashemi then fled to Kurdistan in northern Iraq.

　　Maliki demanded Wednesday that Kurdish leaders hand Hashemi over for prosecution⁷ of his alleged⁸ crimes. Kurdistan regional President Massoud Barzani is refusing to do so.

　　Hashemi, for his part, claims that the charges against him are trumped⁹ up, telling VOA that the conflict is the result of outside pressure from both Iran and Syria on Prime Minister Maliki.

　　Hashemi says the neighboring countries are not pleased with his some of his recent statements and are behind what he calls the fabrication of the entire crisis, and the escalating¹⁰ media campaign against him.

　　The prime minister's spokesman, Ali Dabbagh, retorted that Vice President Hashemi, and not Maliki, was turning the crisis into a media circus.

　　He says Hashemi should make his case before the judicial¹¹ system, and not in front of the press. He insists that TV is turning the matter into a dangerous political crisis.

　　Middle East analyst¹² James Denselow of King's College London says that Mr. Maliki is trying to “force through his own agenda....now that the U.S. has withdrawn¹³.”  But, he argues, it's still too soon to conclude that the political process in Iraq has unraveled.

　　"In the past, these things have happened and people have backed down when they've realized that their own interests won't be secured by undermining the entire edifice¹⁴ as a whole. So I believe that cooler heads may prevail once saber-rattling has stopped," Denselow said.

　　Iraq's parliament speaker is due to meet with top political leaders within the next 24 hours in a bid to resolve the rapidly escalating conflict.

1 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

2 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

3 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

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 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

6 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

7 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

8 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

9 trumped   

v.（牌戏）出王牌赢（一牌或一墩）( trump的过去分词 )；吹号公告，吹号庆祝；吹喇叭；捏造

参考例句：

• That woman trumped up various baseless charges against him. 那个女人捏造种种毫无根据的罪名指控他。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Several of his colleagues trumped up a complaint to get him removed from the job. 他的几位同事诬告他，使他丟掉了工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

11 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

12 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

13 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

14 edifice   

n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室)

参考例句：

• The American consulate was a magnificent edifice in the centre of Bordeaux.美国领事馆是位于波尔多市中心的一座宏伟的大厦。
• There is a huge Victorian edifice in the area.该地区有一幢维多利亚式的庞大建筑物。