2006年VOA标准英语-Cheney Meets Egyptian Leader, Travels to S

By Challiss McDonough
Cairo
17 January 2006

 
U.S. Vice¹ President Dick Cheney, left, meets with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at the presidential palace in Cairo
  
U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney is on a whirlwind trip to the Middle East for talks with Saudi Arabia and Egypt on the political process in Iraq and on the West's standoffs with Syria and Iran.

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The U.S. vice president had a working lunch with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah on the king's desert ranch² outside Riyadh.

Earlier in Egypt, Mr. Cheney held wide-ranging talks over breakfast with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Vice President Cheney's talks with both leaders dealt with largely the same set of topics, including the tension between Lebanon and Syria after the killing³ of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri nearly a year ago.  They also discussed the situation in Iraq, the crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan, the health of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and the upcoming Palestinian and Israeli elections. 

One of the key issues the nuclear standoff with Iran, which recently revived its nuclear program over the objections of Europe and the United States.

The Egyptian leader's spokesman told reporters in Cairo that Mr. Cheney asked for Egypt's support in referring Iran to the U.N. Security Council over its resumption of nuclear research. 

Egypt is one of the 35 nations on the board of governors for the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, which is being asked to decide whether the issue should go to the Security Council.

But the spokesman, Suleiman Awad, said Egypt will only support such a move if it is free from what he called "double standards," a reference to Israel.

"The least thing we need in the Middle East is a nuclear weapon arms race," he said.  "But having said that, we cannot ignore our long-standing principled position, we cannot ignore our Arab world public opinion, refusing to put this focus and make all this fuss on Iranian nuclear program, while lending a blind eye and a deaf ear to the Israeli nuclear program and arsenal⁴."

Israel will neither confirm nor deny having nuclear weapons, but it is widely believed to possess them.

The spokesman said Egypt is calling for more dialogue over the Iranian nuclear standoff.  He said Egypt is urging Iran to show more cooperation and flexibility⁵.

The U.S. vice president was also scheduled to make a brief stop in Kuwait before leaving the region, to pay his respects to the new emir after the death this week of Kuwait's longtime ruler. 

Mr. Cheney's trip to the Middle East is a continuation of a visit he started in December, but had to cut short to fly back to Washington and cast a tie-breaking vote in the Senate.

1 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。

2 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

3 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

4 arsenal   

n.兵工厂，军械库

参考例句：

• Even the workers at the arsenal have got a secret organization.兵工厂工人暗中也有组织。
• We must be the great arsenal of democracy.我们必须成为民主的大军火库。

5 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。