2006年VOA标准英语-New Controversy Faces Britain Over CIA Fli

By Michael Drudge¹
London
19 January 2006

A leaked British government document suggests that there are official doubts about the legality of allowing CIA flights carrying suspected terrorists to refuel at British airports. 

Tony Blair (File photo)  
  
British Prime Minister Tony Blair is facing new controversy² over whether Britain has helped the United States transfer suspected terrorists for interrogation.

In the latest development, British media have published details of a British Foreign Office memo³, written in early December, that reportedly told Mr. Blair's office such cooperation would be illegal in most instances.

According to the reports, the Foreign Office memo also suggests there may have been more than the two requested U.S. rendition flights in 1998. Those flights were previously⁴ acknowledged by Foreign Secretary Jack⁵ Straw.

Of those two flights, one was approved to transport a man to the United States who was a suspect in the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi. The other request was denied because the suspect would have been flown to Egypt.

The leaked document, reprinted in the New Statesman magazine, outlines a strategy of trying to turn the debate away from the CIA flights and to focus instead on U.S. assurances that suspected terrorists are never tortured.

The publication has sparked calls from parliament for the government to explain what is going on.

The chairman of a cross-party parliamentary committee examining the rendition practices, Andrew Tyrie of the Conservative Party, has told British radio Mr. Blair faces a big political problem.

"The prime minister has set himself as a global leader in the war on terror, and he does not want a cigarette paper to come between himself and the United States and George Bush on any aspect of the policy on this," he said. "The vast majority of the British people do not agree with the policy and do not agree with the idea that people can be taken away, kidnapped in various parts of the world and then tortured somewhere."

A Blair spokesman says the critics are over-reacting to the memo, and that the government has abided by all of its international obligations with respect to rendition.

1 drudge   

n.劳碌的人；v.做苦工，操劳

参考例句：

• I feel like a real drudge--I've done nothing but clean all day!我觉得自己像个做苦工的--整天都在做清洁工作！
• I'm a poor,miserable,forlorn drudge;I shall only drag you down with me.我是一个贫穷，倒运，走投无路的苦力，只会拖累你。

2 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

3 memo   

n.照会，备忘录；便笺；通知书；规章

参考例句：

• Do you want me to send the memo out?您要我把这份备忘录分发出去吗？
• Can you type a memo for me?您能帮我打一份备忘录吗？

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 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。