2006年VOA标准英语-Thai Leader: Muslim Militants Funded by Restaur

By Roger Wilkison
Bangkok
22 November 2006

Thailand's interim¹ prime minister says shadowy Muslim militants² in his country's three southernmost provinces are raising money through a network of Thai restaurants in neighboring Malaysia. Malaysia is denying the charge.

Surayud Chulanont

After emerging from a cabinet meeting late Tuesday, Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont was asked by reporters how the Islamic militants that have terrorized Thailand's deep south for the past three years are able to fund their operations.

Mr. Surayud says their main source of funding is a chain of Thai restaurants in Malaysia known as the Tom Yum Kung network, named for a spicy³ Thai shrimp⁴ soup. He says the restaurants donate money to the militants, but that other funds come from the extortion of local businessmen in the deep south of Thailand itself.

An official of the Malaysian embassy in Bangkok, who asked not to be identified, said Mr. Surayud's claim was baseless. The diplomat⁵ said Malaysia would like Thailand to prove the prime minister's allegations.

The perpetrators of bombings, beheadings and drive-by shootings in the South have so far not made any demands or identified their aims. Nevertheless, they are thought to be campaigning for the largely Muslim southern provinces to be separated from Thailand, and rejoined with neighboring Malaysia, or reconstituted as an independent sultanate. The region was annexed⁶ by Thailand a century ago.

Mr. Surayud has made ending the violence a priority. He has apologized for the hard-line tactics used in the largely Malay-speaking region by his elected predecessor⁷, Thaksin Shinawatra, who was overthrown⁸ by the Thai military in September, and says he is willing to talk to the militants.

But, so far, their only response has been to step up the wave of violence.

Thai officials say one of the problems in dealing⁹ with the insurgents¹⁰, most of whom are believed to be youths attached to village-based networks, is that the government has been unable to identify leaders with the authority to negotiate on the militants' behalf.

In the past, the government has dealt with separatist leaders who are now based in Malaysia, but they do not appear to be involved in the current insurgency¹¹.

Wan¹² Kadir Che Wan, one of those exiled leaders, heads a rebel group called Bersatu. He told the Al-Jazeera television network that the younger militants are unwilling¹³ to negotiate with the Thai government, and believe they have the upper hand in their struggle for an independent Muslim state.

He also said that Jemaah Islamiyah, the Southeast Asian terrorist network affiliated¹⁴ with Al-Qaida, may have infiltrated¹⁵ southern Thailand.

Mr. Surayud, however, says that so far, support for the militants from foreign Islamic radicals¹⁶ has been minimal¹⁷.

1 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

2 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

3 spicy   

adj.加香料的；辛辣的，有风味的

参考例句：

• The soup tasted mildly spicy.汤尝起来略有点辣。
• Very spicy food doesn't suit her stomach.太辣的东西她吃了胃不舒服。

4 shrimp   

n.虾，小虾；矮小的人

参考例句：

• When the shrimp farm is built it will block the stream.一旦养虾场建起来，将会截断这条河流。
• When it comes to seafood,I like shrimp the best.说到海鲜，我最喜欢虾。

5 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

6 annexed   

[法] 附加的，附属的

参考例句：

• Germany annexed Austria in 1938. 1938年德国吞并了奥地利。
• The outlying villages were formally annexed by the town last year. 那些偏远的村庄于去年正式被并入该镇。

7 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

8 overthrown   

adj. 打翻的，推倒的，倾覆的 动词overthrow的过去分词

参考例句：

• The president was overthrown in a military coup. 总统在军事政变中被赶下台。
• He has overthrown the basic standards of morality. 他已摒弃了基本的道德标准。

9 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

10 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

11 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

12 wan   

(wide area network)广域网

参考例句：

• The shared connection can be an Ethernet,wireless LAN,or wireless WAN connection.提供共享的网络连接可以是以太网、无线局域网或无线广域网。

13 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

14 affiliated   

adj. 附属的, 有关连的

参考例句：

• The hospital is affiliated with the local university. 这家医院附属于当地大学。
• All affiliated members can vote. 所有隶属成员都有投票权。

15 infiltrated   

adj.[医]浸润的v.（使）渗透，（指思想）渗入人的心中( infiltrate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The headquarters had been infiltrated by enemy spies. 总部混入了敌方特务。
• Many Chinese idioms have infiltrated into the Japanese language. 许多中国成语浸透到日语中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

16 radicals   

n.激进分子( radical的名词复数 )；根基；基本原理；[数学]根数

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals. 一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The worry is that the radicals will grow more intransigent. 现在人们担忧激进分子会变得更加不妥协。 来自辞典例句

17 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。