2006年VOA标准英语-Syria Is Prime Suspect, But Not The Only One, I

By Gary Thomas
Washington
22 November 2006

 
Nicole Gemayel, sister of prominent anti-Syrian Christian¹ politician Pierre Gemayel, center, mourns with friends and relatives on her brother's coffin²
When a key cabinet official in Lebanon was gunned down in a Beirut street Tuesday, many were quick to blame the killing³ on Syria.  Syria has sharply denied involvement.  As VOA correspondent Gary Thomas reports, Syria may be the prime suspect, but there are other, less obvious suspects as well.

Syria may have had the motive⁴ to kill Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel.  He was opposed to Syria, and backed efforts for a U.N.-sanctioned tribunal on the killing last year of Rafiq Hariri, another anti-Syrian politician.

Syria denies involvement in either the Gemayel or Hariri killings⁵. 

Middle East analysts⁷ say the motive may be to destabilize the Lebanese government.  Prime Minister Fouad Siniora - who has blamed Syria - heads a fragile coalition⁸ government made up of Sunni Muslims, Druze, and Maronite Christians⁹.  Last week, six pro-Syrian and pro-Hezbollah ministers resigned.  David Schenker, senior fellow in Arab politics at the Washington Near East Institute, points out that the resignations, coupled with the Gemayel assassination¹⁰, put the government close to collapse¹¹.

"It's the primary motivation," Schenker says. "The constitution says that if more than a third of the cabinet ministers resign or leave, and, by implication, or if they're killed, then the government falls.  And right now with the Hezbollah resignations, you have six ministers gone.  With the killing of Gemayel you had seven.  Eight is a third, and nine is more than a third.  So they're two away.  I would expect that more people will be killed, that there will be more attempts on the lives of cabinet ministers."

Some analysts say the timing¹² of the killing leads them to question whether Syria was behind Gemayel's death.  Gemayel was killed just as Syria restored relations with Iraq, a major diplomatic breakthrough for Damascus. So, these analysts say, there is no shortage of other suspects.

 
Pierre Gemayel 
Pierre Gemayel was a member of a prominent Maronite Christian family.  Wayne White, a former senior State Department Middle East analyst⁶, points out that he was killed in broad daylight in a Christian neighborhood of Beirut, which he says could indicate a possible internal Maronite feud¹³. 

"Do we think that the Syrians are so flat-footed that they are knocking these people off willy-nilly in the face of an angry world community?  Or could it be, for example, the much-fractured Maronite with a lot of its own little scores to settle?  The Gemayels [family] are not immensely popular among certain quarters of the Christian community.  They could be bumping off their enemies within their own community knowing full well that the world will rush and blame the Syrians.  There could be little plots within plots here," White says.

There is a political divide in the Maronite community.  Some support Michel Aoun in his alliance with Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran.  Others side with Saad al-Hariri, son of the slain¹⁴ former prime minister. Fares Braizat, visiting fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says the split could have escalated¹⁵.

"So there is definitely a split within the Maronite community in Lebanon.  And whether there has been an internal struggle that has evolved to be a violent one, we are not sure.  But we cannot rule out any possibility," Braizat says.

Joshua Landis, a Syria expert and co-director of the Center for Peace Studies at the University of Oklahoma, says Gemayel's killing could have been done by Hezbollah itself, acting¹⁶ as a proxy¹⁷ for Syria or Iran.  But he does not rule out that an outside group, perhaps from al-Qaida, could be responsible, seeing the killing as a way to derail any possible U.S. effort to seek Syrian and Iranian help in stabilizing¹⁸ Iraq.

"There are these al-Qaida groups of various kinds.  And some of them are anti-Hezbollah, and they have been making threats about this government as well," Landis says.  "They're the kind of people who in this super-heated environment, this giant tug¹⁹ of war and this delicate game, could easily try to profit from this by freelancing."

Still, most analysts believe Syria is the prime suspect in the killing of Pierre Gemayel, having, as detectives like to say, motive, means, and opportunity.  But, Fares Braizat points out, without any proof or claim of responsibility, speculation²⁰ remains²¹ the name of the game.

1 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

2 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

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 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

5 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

6 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

7 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

8 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

9 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

10 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

11 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

12 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

13 feud   

n.长期不和；世仇；v.长期争斗；世代结仇

参考例句：

• How did he start his feud with his neighbor?他是怎样和邻居开始争吵起来的？
• The two tribes were long at feud with each other.这两个部族长期不和。

14 slain   

杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词)

参考例句：

• The soldiers slain in the battle were burried that night. 在那天夜晚埋葬了在战斗中牺牲了的战士。
• His boy was dead, slain by the hand of the false Amulius. 他的儿子被奸诈的阿缪利乌斯杀死了。

15 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

参考例句：

• The fighting escalated into a full-scale war. 这场交战逐步扩大为全面战争。
• The demonstration escalated into a pitched battle with the police. 示威逐步升级，演变成了一场同警察的混战。

16 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

17 proxy   

n.代理权，代表权；（对代理人的）委托书；代理人

参考例句：

• You may appoint a proxy to vote for you.你可以委托他人代你投票。
• We enclose a form of proxy for use at the Annual General Meeting.我们附上委任年度大会代表的表格。

18 stabilizing   

n.稳定化处理[退火]v.（使）稳定， （使）稳固( stabilize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The disulfide bridges might then be viewed primarily as stabilizing components. 二硫桥可以被看作是初级的稳定因素。 来自辞典例句
• These stabilizing design changes are usually not desirable for steady-state operation. 这些增加稳定性的设计改变通常不太符合稳态工作的要求。 来自辞典例句

19 tug   

v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船

参考例句：

• We need to tug the car round to the front.我们需要把那辆车拉到前面。
• The tug is towing three barges.那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。

20 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

21 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。