Al-Qaida Claim for Thursday's Terror Bombings Overshadows Sp

Al-Qaida Claim for Thursday's Terror Bombings Overshadows Spanish Election

 

Gil Carbajal

 

The people of Spain are voting in a general election following Thursday's terrorist bombings of four commuter¹ trains that killed 200 and injured more than 1,400. Indications are growing that an Islamic terrorist group was behind the attacks, a development that could have an important impact on the election.

 

The government was at first quick to point the finger of suspicion at the Basque terrorist organization ETA, but Interior Minister Angel Acebes announced the arrest late Saturday of three Moroccans and two Indians in connection to the attacks. And early Sunday he disclosed that police had found a videotape in Arabic claiming that al-Qaida was responsible for the attacks.

 

Mr. Acebes said police followed a telephone tip and found the videotape in a waste paper basket near Madrid's principal mosque².

 

The tape showed a man dressed in Arab garb³ who spoke⁴ with a Moroccan accent. He said al-Qaida planned the Madrid attacks to take place exactly two and a half years after the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington. He said the Madrid bombs were in retaliation⁵ for Spain's cooperation with what he called "the Bush criminals" and their actions in Afghanistan and Iraq. He threatened more such attacks.

 

Earlier Saturday the government announced the arrest of the Moroccans and Indian citizens, saying they had links to a mobile phone found in a backpack containing an unexploded bomb on one of the four trains attacked on Thursday.

 

The possible al-Qaida connection could have an adverse⁶ affect on the ruling Popular Party's chances of remaining in power.

 

Outgoing Prime Minister José María Aznar's staunch support of U.S. operations in Iraq has become an important campaign issue. His handpicked successor, Mariano Rajoy, has pledged to continue that policy despite the opposition⁷ in opinion polls of more than 80 percent of the Spanish people.

 

The head of the main opposition Socialist⁸ Worker's Party, José Luis Zapatero, has pledged to withdraw Spain's 1,300 soldiers from Iraq unless there is U.N. approval of the deployment⁹.

 

The last opinion polls published before the bomb attacks on Thursday gave the Popular Party a bare four to six point lead, not enough to obtain the 176 seats in parliament needed to maintain its absolute majority.

 

注释：

Spain [spein] n. 西班牙（欧洲南部国家）

commuter train  市郊火车

Islamic [Iz5lAmIk] adj. 伊斯兰的

Basque [bAsk] adj. 巴斯克的

ETA  巴斯克语

Interior Minister  内务部长

Moroccan [mE5rRkEN] n. 摩洛哥人

disclose [dis5klEuz] vt. 揭露，透露

al-Qaida　基地组织

Madrid [mE5drid] n. 马德里（西班牙首都）

mosque [mCsk] n. 清真寺

retaliation [rI9tAlI5eIFEn] n. 报复，报仇

adverse [5AdvE:s] adj. 敌对的，相反的

ruling [5ru:liN] adj. 现执政的

Popular Party  人民党

staunch [stC:n(t)F] adj. 坚定的

handpicked [5hAnd5pIkt] adj. 精选的

successor [sEk5sesE] n. 接任者

parliament [5pB:lEmEnt] n. 议会

1 commuter   

n.(尤指市郊之间)乘公交车辆上下班者

参考例句：

• Police cordoned off the road and diverted commuter traffic. 警察封锁了道路并分流交通。
• She accidentally stepped on his foot on a crowded commuter train. 她在拥挤的通勤列车上不小心踩到了他的脚。

2 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

3 garb   

n.服装，装束

参考例句：

• He wore the garb of a general.他身着将军的制服。
• Certain political,social,and legal forms reappear in seemingly different garb.一些政治、社会和法律的形式在表面不同的外衣下重复出现。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 adverse   

adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的

参考例句：

• He is adverse to going abroad.他反对出国。
• The improper use of medicine could lead to severe adverse reactions.用药不当会产生严重的不良反应。

7 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。

8 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

9 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。