Mideast 'Quartet' Reaffirms Faith in 'Road Map'

 

Peter Heinlein
 
The so-called quartet of peace mediators have reaffirmed their faith in the "Road Map" plan for a settlement of the Israeli Palestinian dispute.

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan called representatives of the other three members of the quartet, Russia, the United States and the European Union, to New York, amid concern that their "road map" for peace had been mortally wounded by recent events.

After a two-hour closed-door session Tuesday, Mr. Annan said the quartet views the present Middle East situation with great concern. But sitting alongside Secretary of State Colin Powell, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the EU Foreign Policy chief Javier Solana, he said all favor the two-state solution outlined in the "road map."

"We reaffirm our commitment to our shared vision of two states living side by side in peace and security. One of those states will be Israel, and the other a viable¹, democratic, sovereign and contiguous Palestine," he said.

The quartet applauded Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to end the occupation of Gaza, even though Mr. Sharon's own party rejected the proposal in a referendum Sunday.

The statement read by Secretary General Annan reinterpret the call for a prompt handover of evacuated² lands to the Palestinian Authority.

"This initiative, which must lead to a full Israeli withdrawal³ and complete end of occupation in Gaza, can be a step towards achieving the two-state vision, and could restart progress on the "road map," he said

Speaking to reporters afterward⁴, Secretary of State Colin Powell sought to reassure⁵ Palestinians that the Bush administration had not abandoned their hope for a separate state. Mr. Powell said the Arab world and the Palestinians should be reassured⁶.

"They know the president has not abandoned them, has not abandoned the hope for the creation of a Palestinian state, he has not abandoned the vision he laid out in June of 2002," he said.

Secretary Powell said he looks on recent developments in the Middle East as an opportunity to be seized.

Secretary General Annan told reporters afterward that he believes the road map for peace may be in distress⁷, but is not dead. He noted⁸ that the communiqué issued after Tuesday's meeting pushes the peace process forward in ways that have not been done before.

注释：
quartet of peace mediators 中东危机四人调停小组，指美国（the US），联合国（the UN），欧盟（the EU）和俄罗斯（Russia）
reaffirm [5ri:E5fE:m] vt. 重申
mortally [5mC:t(E)li] adv. 致命地
closed-door 秘密举行的
Sergei Lavrov 俄罗斯外交部长谢尔盖·拉夫罗夫
Javier Solana 哈维尔·索拉纳，欧盟秘书长
viable [5vaiEbl] adj. 有生存能力的
sovereign [5sCvrin] adj. 独立自主的
contiguous [kEn5ti^juEs] adj. 接壤的，毗邻的
referendum [7refE5rendEm] n. 公民投票
handover [5hAndEuvE] n. 转交
evacuated [i5vAkjueitid] adj. 被剥夺的
abandon [E5bAndEn] vt. 放弃
distress [di5stres] n. 困境
communiqué [kE5mju:nikei] n. 公报

 

 

1 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

2 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

3 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

4 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

5 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

6 reassured   

adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The captain's confidence during the storm reassured the passengers. 在风暴中船长的信念使旅客们恢复了信心。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The doctor reassured the old lady. 医生叫那位老妇人放心。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

8 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。