英闻天下——398 EU Official Killed in Damascus Rocket Attack

 　　The EU's foreign policy chief is offering her condolences following death of an EU official working in Syria.

 

　　Catherin Ashton says policy officer Ahmad Shihadeh was killed during a rocket attack while working in the suburbs of Damascus.

 

　　"Can I begin by saying I have learned with great sadness of the tragic¹ death yesterday of Ahmad Shihadeh, a policy officer at the EU Delegation² in Syria. He was killed during a rocket attack on the Damascus suburb of Deraya, where he lived. Ahmad died while providing humanitarian³ help to the community."

 

　　Shihadeh's death comes as Britain and France put more pressure on other EU members to lift a ban on supplying arms to Syria.

 

　　Ashton, who's presiding over a session of the European Parliament, says urgent steps need to be taken to end the fighting in Syria.

 

　　"I want to be clear too, that on the occasions this year when I have put the arms embargo⁴ on the agenda of the Foreign Affairs Council with all options to be discussed, no member state has proposed it'd be lifted to arm the opposition⁵."

 

　　Germany has emerged as the main opponent to arming the Syrian rebels, suggesting any move like that could lead to a proliferation of weapons in the region, and could potentially spark a proxy⁶ war.

 

　　The Russian government is also opposed to any move to supply arms to the Syrian rebels.

 

　　Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is in London for talks with his counterpart William Hague.

 

　　"I think that international law provides for the fact it's not possible and I think that arming the opposition is a breach⁷ of international law."

 

　　For his part, Hague says Britain has not "ruled out anything in the future."

 

　　The British government has already promised to give "non-lethal" assistance to Syrian rebels.

1 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

2 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

3 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

4 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

6 proxy   

n.代理权，代表权；（对代理人的）委托书；代理人

参考例句：

• You may appoint a proxy to vote for you.你可以委托他人代你投票。
• We enclose a form of proxy for use at the Annual General Meeting.我们附上委任年度大会代表的表格。

7 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。