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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
By Anjana Pasricha
New Delhi
10 November 2006
A prominent Sri Lankan Tamil politician has been gunned down in Colombo, even as more clashes were reported at sea between the navy and ethnic1 Tamil rebels. The dead politician, a member of a party linked to the rebels, had tried to build bridges between the country's warring ethnic groups.
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slain2 Tamil politician Nadaraja Raviraj at crime scene in Colombo" src="/upimg/allimg/070508/1506400.jpg" width="210" border="0" /> Sri Lankan Army soldiers stand guard next to bullet-ridden vehicle of slain Tamil politician Nadaraja Raviraj at crime scene in Colombo |
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The TNA, which is regarded as the parliamentary proxy4 of the Tamil Tiger rebels, blamed the government for the lawmaker's assassination5. President Mahinda Rajapakse condemned6 the killing7, saying it appeared to be an attempt to discredit8 the government.
The deputy head of the Center for Policy Alternatives in Colombo, Rohan Edresinghe, describes Raviraj as a member of parliament, who tried to act as a bridge between the minority Tamil community and the majority Sinhalese.
"One of the most moderate TNA MPs [members of parliament], an MP who was often on television explaining to the Sinhalese people, in their own language, what the concerns of the Tamil people were. The fact that he has been assassinated is causing a lot of fear, a lot of concern among people, who hope that a peaceful resolution to the conflict is still possible," he said.
The Tamil politician was assassinated as fighting escalated9 in the predominately Tamil north and the east of the country, where the rebels have been fighting for autonomy for two decades.
Defense10 officials say the navy sank two rebel boats Friday in the northeastern harbor of Trincomalee. A day earlier, the navy said it sank 22 rebel boats carrying suicide fighters who wanted to target a passenger ship in the northern Jaffna Peninsula.
The rebels say their boats were conducting exercises when they were attacked. They said they sank two naval11 gunboats. A number of sailors and rebels are reported to be missing or killed in the two clashes.
Tensions between the two sides have intensified12 since peace talks collapsed13 last month after months of steady deterioration14.
Edresinghe says the failed talks and the resumption of fighting demonstrate that hard-line elements are in control in the government.
"The hope that the government would be emboldened15 to marginalize the extremist groups in alliance with them, all that seems to have receded16 at the present moment, given the escalation17 in violence," he said.
A shaky truce18 is still nominally19 in place, but there are widespread fears that the country will return to full-scale war. The ethnic conflict stems from complaints that the Tamil community has suffered discrimination at the hands of the Sinhalese.
1 ethnic | |
adj.人种的,种族的,异教徒的 | |
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2 slain | |
杀死,宰杀,杀戮( slay的过去分词 ); (slay的过去分词) | |
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3 assassinated | |
v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 );中伤;诋毁;破坏 | |
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4 proxy | |
n.代理权,代表权;(对代理人的)委托书;代理人 | |
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5 assassination | |
n.暗杀;暗杀事件 | |
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6 condemned | |
adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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7 killing | |
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财 | |
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8 discredit | |
vt.使不可置信;n.丧失信义;不信,怀疑 | |
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9 escalated | |
v.(使)逐步升级( escalate的过去式和过去分词 );(使)逐步扩大;(使)更高;(使)更大 | |
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10 defense | |
n.防御,保卫;[pl.]防务工事;辩护,答辩 | |
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11 naval | |
adj.海军的,军舰的,船的 | |
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12 intensified | |
v.(使)增强, (使)加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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13 collapsed | |
adj.倒塌的 | |
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14 deterioration | |
n.退化;恶化;变坏 | |
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15 emboldened | |
v.鼓励,使有胆量( embolden的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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16 receded | |
v.逐渐远离( recede的过去式和过去分词 );向后倾斜;自原处后退或避开别人的注视;尤指问题 | |
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17 escalation | |
n.扩大,增加 | |
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18 truce | |
n.休战,(争执,烦恼等的)缓和;v.以停战结束 | |
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19 nominally | |
在名义上,表面地; 应名儿 | |
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