Japan Will Not Withdraw Troops from Iraq, Despite Kidnapping

Japan Will Not Withdraw Troops from Iraq, Despite Kidnapping of 3 Civilians¹

 

Steve Herman

 

Task forces have been set up in Tokyo at the prime minister's office and the Foreign Ministry² to deal with what is evolving into the biggest crisis the administration of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has faced in its two-and-a-half years in office.

 

Japan's government says it is working with the United States and other coalition³ partners in Iraq to find out more about the previously⁴ unknown Iraqi group, the Mujahideen Brigades, that reportedly says it will kill its three Japanese hostages if Japan does not agree to withdraw its peace-keeping troops from Iraq within three days.

 

A defiant⁵ government spokesman, Yasuo Fukuda, says the Japanese troops in southern Iraq are going nowhere.

 

Mr. Fukuda, the chief cabinet secretary, says Japan will demand that the three be safely released. He says their apparent abduction is an unforgivable act.

 

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi says she learned of the kidnappings through a call to the ministry from the Arabic-language satellite television channel, Al-Jazeera, saying it would soon be broadcasting videotape of two kidnapped men and one woman.

 

The foreign minister says she is dispatching Vice⁶ Foreign Minister Ichiro Aizawa to Jordan Friday afternoon, to coordinate⁷ efforts in the Middle East to gain the safe release of the hostages.

 

The Al-Jazeera footage of the three civilians, blindfolded⁹ and surrounded by gunmen, is being continually rebroadcast on Japanese television.

 

The videotape shows the hostages' passports and other identification. The three are identified as 33-year-old Nahoko Takato, a woman volunteer doing aid work with Iraqi children; 32-year-old freelance journalist Soichiro Koriyama; and 18-year-old Noriaki Imai, who graduated from high school in northern Japan just last month.

 

Task forces  任务部队

Tokyo [5tEukjEu] n. 东京（日本首都）

previously [5pri:vju:slI] adv. 先前，以前

Mujahideen Brigades  回教圣战旅

hostage [5hCstidV] n. 人质

defiant [di5faiEnt] adj. 挑战的，挑衅的

abduction [Ab5dQkFEn] n. 诱导

unforgivable [5QnfE5^ivEbl] adj. 不可原谅[饶恕]的

kidnapping [5kidnApiN] n. 诱拐，拐骗

broadcast [5brC:dkB:st] v. 广播

dispatching [dis5pAtF] vt. 分派，派遣

footage [5futidV] n. 连续镜头

blindfold⁸ [5blaindfEuld] vt. 将……眼睛蒙起来，蒙骗

freelance  n. 自由作家，自由记者

journalist [5dVE:nElist] n. 新闻记者

1 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

2 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

3 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

4 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

5 defiant   

adj.无礼的，挑战的

参考例句：

• With a last defiant gesture,they sang a revolutionary song as they were led away to prison.他们被带走投入监狱时，仍以最后的反抗姿态唱起了一支革命歌曲。
• He assumed a defiant attitude toward his employer.他对雇主采取挑衅的态度。

6 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

7 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

8 blindfold   

vt.蒙住…的眼睛；adj.盲目的；adv.盲目地；n.蒙眼的绷带[布等]； 障眼物，蒙蔽人的事物

参考例句：

• They put a blindfold on a horse.他们给马蒙上遮眼布。
• I can do it blindfold.我闭着眼睛都能做。

9 blindfolded   

v.（尤指用布）挡住（某人）的视线( blindfold的过去式 )；蒙住（某人）的眼睛；使不理解；蒙骗

参考例句：

• The hostages were tied up and blindfolded. 人质被捆绑起来并蒙上了眼睛。
• They were each blindfolded with big red handkerchiefs. 他们每个人的眼睛都被一块红色大手巾蒙住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》