2006年VOA标准英语-UN Cancels Aid Contract With Group Led by Indon

By Marianne Kearney
Jakarta
15 June 2006

The United Nations has canceled an aid contract with a militant¹ Muslim group chaired by Abu Bakar Bashir, who has just finished a jail term for terrorism-related offenses² in Indonesia. The group was delivering food aid to victims of the recent Java earthquake.

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Students of an Islamic boarding school wear masks while welcoming Indonesian Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir after he arrived in Solo, central Java, June 14, 2006  
  

The World Food Program had contracted the group Majelis Mujahideen Indonesia, or MMI, to deliver much-needed food to thousands of victims of last month's earthquake on the island of Java.

Barry Came, a spokesman for the World Food Program, says there was confusion, because the charity was calling itself Majelis Mujahideen, or MM.  He says the U.N. agency did not realize this was the same group as MMI, which is chaired by the militant Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir.

"Unfortunately, at the time and in heat of the moment when there was such a rush on, and some considerable confusion, we didn't realize M.M. was same as MMI, and affiliated³ with Abu Bashir, and in light of that, as of yesterday, [we] canceled the contract," he said.

Bashir was released Wednesday after serving a jail term of only 25 months in connection with the 2002 Bali bombings, which killed 202 people. He is alleged⁴ to be the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, a Muslim group believed to be behind that and other lethal⁵ bombings around Indonesia over a three-year period.

Bashir, a 68-year-old religious teacher, has always claimed he played no part in the Bali attack. On Thursday he told online news service Detik that such militants⁶ as Noordin Mohammad Top, who is alleged to be the mastermind behind the string of bombings, were "misguided" holy warriors⁷.

Bashir said using violence in a peaceful area was wrong, and he called on the radicals⁸, some of whom studied at his school, to change their methods.

The WFP's spokesman says the cancellation⁹ of the contract with Bashir's MMI group will not cause any added suffering to the earthquake victims.

"In any case, they didn't have any WFP food left to distribute: they received 95 tons of food aid, and all of that food was distributed," said Came.

Australia lost 88 citizens in the 2002 Bali bombing, and another bomb was set off outside Australia's embassy in Jakarta in 2004. The Australian government voiced its displeasure at Bashir's release from prison on Wednesday. On Thursday, Prime Minister John Howard told parliament he had sent a letter to the Indonesian president, asking for Bashir's movements to be monitored closely.

1 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

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。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

2 offenses   

n.进攻( offense的名词复数 )；（球队的）前锋；进攻方法；攻势

参考例句：

• It's wrong of you to take the child to task for such trifling offenses. 因这类小毛病责备那孩子是你的不对。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Thus, Congress cannot remove an executive official except for impeachable offenses. 因此，除非有可弹劾的行为，否则国会不能罢免行政官员。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

3 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。

4 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

5 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

6 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。

7 warriors   

武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I like reading the stories ofancient warriors. 我喜欢读有关古代武士的故事。
• The warriors speared the man to death. 武士们把那个男子戳死了。

8 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

9 cancellation   

n.删除，取消

参考例句：

• Heavy seas can cause cancellation of ferry services.海上风浪太大，可能须要取消渡轮服务。
• Her cancellation of her trip to Paris upset our plan.她取消了巴黎之行打乱了我们的计划。