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　　Sri Lanka's rebels have announced they would be laying down their guns to prevent what they call further unnecessary slaughter¹ of Tamil civilians³ by government troops. The island nation's military says it has defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, ending a long civil war, and has rescued nearly 200,000 trapped civilians.
斯里兰卡反政府武装宣布，他们将放下武器，避免所谓政府军继续杀害无辜的泰米尔族平民百姓。斯里兰卡军方说，政府军打败了泰米尔-伊拉姆猛虎解放组织，结束了一场旷日持久的内战，还救出将近20万被困在战区的平民。
Sri Lanka's government is congratulating itself on a job well done, defeating terrorism and rescuing all civilians from its clutches.
斯里兰卡政府对自己圆满完成任务很满意，他们说政府军击败了恐怖主义，并营救出陷入恐怖主义魔爪的全部平民。
The country's disaster-relief and human-rights minister, Mahinda Samarasinghe, spoke⁴ to reporters in the capital.
斯里兰卡灾害处置和人权事务部长马欣达.萨马拉辛哈在首都对记者发表讲话。
"The military phase is over. The LTTE has been militarily defeated. Now the biggest hostage rescue operation in the world has come to a conclusion," Samarasinghe. "The figure I have here is since 20th of April, 179,000 hostages have been rescued."
他说：“军事行动阶段已经结束。泰米尔-伊拉姆猛虎解放组织已经从战略上被打败。现在世界范围最大规模的人质营救行动告一段落。”他说，自从4月20号以来，一共有17万9千名人质获得解救。
But the Army reports the Tamil Tiger rebels as of Sunday evening still hold an 800-square-meter territory, were continuing to fire on troops and engage in suicide attacks on soldiers. The military calls this a "mopping up operation" and expresses confidence the entire area will soon be cleared of all rebels.
No official announcement has been made on what just about everyone in the island nation is wondering. What is the fate of the LTTE founder⁵ and leader, Vellupillai Prabhakaran?
Military officials say they have no conclusive⁶ information, but earlier predicted the group's top leaders would likely commit a mass suicide.
Questions also remain about how many civilians, in recent days, died in the combat zone and who is responsible.
The government and the LTTE traded accusations⁷ the other was deliberately⁸ targeting civilians. Some in the international community are pushing for both sides to face inquiries⁹ of possible war crimes.
斯里兰卡政府跟泰米尔-伊拉姆猛虎解放组织相互指责对方故意袭击平民。国际社会一些人士正在推动对双方面都展开可能犯有战争罪的调查。
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown also warned of "consequences" for Sri Lanka for not halting its offensive to allow humanitarian¹⁰ relief for the trapped Tamils whom the government here contends were "human shields" held by the rebels.
英国首相布朗还警告斯里兰卡造成的后果，因为政府军不停止进攻，被困在战区的泰米尔人无法得到人道救援。斯里兰卡政府声称，是反政府武装强迫那些泰米尔人为他们做人体盾牌的。
VOA News asked Sri Lanka Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona for a reaction to that diplomatic threat.
美国之音询问斯里兰卡外交秘书柯洪纳，斯里兰卡政府如何回应上述外交威胁。
"I would like to see what these consequences are. I believe that it is a legal responsibility of any state to rescue hostages when confronted with such a situation," said Kohona. "The international community itself characterized what prevailed in the north as a hostage situation."
他说：“我希望知道这些后果是什么。我认为，对于任何国家来说，当面对那样的局面时解救人质都是他们义不容辞的责任。国际社会自己也认为斯里兰卡北部普遍存在的情况具有人质危机的特点。”
The top aid of U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon is in Colombo for talks with government officials on the humanitarian situation in the combat zone. U.N. officials here acknowledge he arrived too late to make much of a difference.
联合国秘书长潘基文的高级助手目前在科伦坡，跟政府官员就战区的人道局势进行会谈。在科伦坡的联合国官员承认，这位高级助手来得太迟，不可能改变局面。
U.N. spokesman Gordon Weiss tells VOA News the government must allow international agencies unhindered access to the camps set up for a quarter million displaced Tamils to ensure they are being properly sheltered and fed.
联合国发言人戈登.韦斯对美国之音说，斯里兰卡政府必须允许国际机构畅通无阻地进入为25万泰米尔人设立的难民营，确保他们的吃住都得到妥善安置。
"And, of course, there is a wide range of battlefield injuries amongst the civilian² population both inside the camp, at the moment, and among those emerging from the zone," said Weiss.
韦斯说：“当然，平民中有大量在战场上受伤的人，此刻他们有人住在难民营，也有的来自战区。”
Although the final tally¹¹ is yet to be known, the civil war, which began in 1983, has left at least 70,000 people dead. The LTTE, a terrorist organization in the eyes of many countries, will apparently¹² leave a legacy¹³ of failing to gain an ethnic¹⁴ homeland despite waging decades of guerilla warfare¹⁵, repeated urban suicide attacks and waves of political assassinations¹⁶.
尽管最终的数字还不得而知，这场始于1983年的内战已经造成至少7万人丧生。泰米尔-伊拉姆猛虎解放组织这个被世界许多国家看成是恐怖组织的游击队，似乎最终也不可能如愿以偿地建立独立的泰米尔家园，尽管他们进行了几十年的游击战争，不断在城市发动自杀式袭击以及一轮又一轮的政治暗杀。