英国卫报:绑架为何成了一门生意(11)

In March 2012, Ollie and the negotiator travelled to Nairobi to make the final arrangements.

2012年3月，奥利和谈判代表前往内罗毕作最后安排。

Control Risks contracted a pilot to drop the money,

控制风险公司签约了一名飞行员去送钱，

but there were some tense moments when the authorities that controlled the local airstrip demanded a larger cut.

但也有一些紧张的时刻，控制当地飞机跑道的当局要求更大幅度地削减赎金。

Once that was worked out, and the kidnappers¹ indicated they were prepared to release their hostage, things changed.

一旦这个问题解决了，绑架者也表示他们准备释放人质，事情就发生了变化。

“At that point, the security consultant² drove me to a crossroads in Nairobi,” he recalled.

奥利回忆道，“那时，安全顾问开车把我送到内罗比的一个十字路口。”

“On one side there was a jeep with the Foreign Office guys in it, and I just crossed the road and got in their car.

“另一边停着一辆吉普，里面是外交部的人，我穿过马路，上了他们的车。

From that point on, the British government took over.

从那时起，英国政府就接管了。

British officials travelled to the Nairobi airport to collect Jude,

英国官员去内罗毕机场接裘德，

and then took her to the British high commission, where she was reunited with her son.

然后把她带到英国高级专员公署，在那里她与儿子团聚。

Eventually, the full ransom³ that Ollie had paid was reimbursed⁴ under the terms of the K&R policy.

最终，依据绑架和赎金保险单的条款，奥利支付的全部赎金得到了偿还。

On the one hand, Ollie is grateful that the British government allowed him to pay a ransom

一方面，奥利很感激的是，尽管绑架他母亲的人可能与青年党有联系，

despite the fact that his mother’s kidnappers may have been linked to al-Shabaab.

英国政府还是允许他支付赎金。

(A British researcher told me that he visited the FCO office to discuss the case while Jude was being held,

(一位英国研究人员告诉我，在裘德被关押期间，他曾到英国外交部讨论此事，

and was told the government was not interested in hearing any information about the terrorist ties of the kidnappers.)

期间被告知政府对绑匪与恐怖分子的关系没有兴趣。)

On the other hand, his experience caused him to focus on what he sees as the hypocrisy⁵ and heartlessness of the government’s position.

另一方面，奥利的经历使他关注了自己认为的政府虚伪和无情的立场。

In order to apply pressure, Jude’s kidnappers were depriving her of food, slowly starving her to death.

为了施加压力，绑匪不断减少她的食物，打算慢慢地把她饿死。

If negotiations⁶ had dragged on for a few more months, “she would have died for sure,” Ollie believes.

如果谈判再拖上几个月，奥利认为，“她肯定会死的。”

1 kidnappers   

n.拐子，绑匪( kidnapper的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They were freed yesterday by their kidnappers unharmed. 他们昨天被绑架者释放了，没有受到伤害。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The kidnappers had threatened to behead all four unless their jailed comrades were released. 帮匪们曾经威胁说如果印度方面不释放他们的同伙，他们就要将这四名人质全部斩首。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

3 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

4 reimbursed   

v.偿还，付还( reimburse的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Any out-of-pocket expenses incurred on the firm's business will be reimbursed. 由公司业务产生的开销都可以报销。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Employees are reimbursed for any legal fees incurred when they relocate. 员工调往异地工作时，他们可以报销由此产生的所有法律服务费用。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 hypocrisy   

n.伪善，虚伪

参考例句：

• He railed against hypocrisy and greed.他痛斥伪善和贪婪的行为。
• He accused newspapers of hypocrisy in their treatment of the story.他指责了报纸在报道该新闻时的虚伪。

6 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。