美国暂停向埃及交付F-16战机

 　　WASHINGTON, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The Obama administration has decided¹ to suspend delivery of F-16 fighter planes to Egypt, the Defense² Department announced Wednesday.

　　"Given the current situation in Egypt, we do not believe it is appropriate to move forward at this time with the delivery of F- 16s," Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters.

　　The decision, made by President Barack Obama, was backed unanimously by his entire national security team, said Little.

　　"We remain committed to the U.S.-Egypt defense relationship as it remains³ a foundation of our broader strategic partnership⁴ with Egypt and serves as a pillar of regional stability," said Little.

　　Moving forward, Little said everything the U.S. side does and says "will continue to be focused on hastening Egypt's return to a democratically elected government as soon as possible, consistent with our legal requirements and our national security interests."

　　Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's first elected president, was removed from power by the military earlier this month. Little said the decision to halt F-16 delivery did not signal that the U.S. sees Morsi was pushed out in a coup⁵, which would mean suspension of military and economic aid to Egypt.

　　According to a 2010 deal, the United States is to sell 20 F-16 fighter jets to Egypt for a price of 2.5 billion dollars. Four were already delivered and four more were due to be shipped in coming weeks.

　　Little also said the United States would go ahead with a planned joint⁶ military exercise with Egypt.

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

5 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

6 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。