2006年VOA标准英语-UN Set to Condemn Peacekeeper Deaths in Lebanon

By Peter Heinlein
New York
26 July 2006

The U.N. Security Council is debating a statement condemning² the Israeli attack on a U.N. observer post in Lebanon.

China urged the Security Council to issue a strong condemnation³ of the Israeli attack that killed four blue-helmeted U.N. military observers. The dead included soldiers from China, Finland, Canada, and Austria.

Wang Guangya speaks to media before Security Council meeting, July 26, 2006  
  
The Chinese U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya described the attack as 'inexcusable'.

"For China and for others, we condemn¹ this. Because I think any attack on the United Nations positions and United Nations personnel is inexcusable and unacceptable," he said.

Briefing the Council behind closed doors, assistant chief of U.N. peacekeeping operations Jane Hull⁴ Lute⁵ suggested the attack on the observer outpost may have been deliberate.

She said 21 strikes had occurred in the immediate⁶ vicinity of the U.N. position before it collapsed⁷, killing⁸ the four military observers. She said that unlike in other areas, there had been no firing by Hezbollah militia⁹ units around the U.N. base.

Lute told the Security Council that as the shelling continued Tuesday, she and Deputy Secretary General Mark Malloch Brown had personally telephoned the Israeli mission to the United Nations several times to ask that it be stopped.

A summary of her briefing was made available to reporters by the U.N. secretariat.

During a meeting in Rome, Secretary-General Kofi Annan issued a statement calling on Israel to investigate what he called "the apparently¹⁰ deliberate targeting" of the observer post.

Israeli officials have strongly denied that the attack was deliberate, saying it would make no sense to target U.N. observers. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert spoke¹¹ to Secretary-General Kofi Annan to express "deep sorrow", and promised to conduct a prompt and thorough investigation¹².

 
John Bolton, July 26, 2006 
  
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton says Washington favors a prompt Security Council reaction to the killings¹³. But he said the statement should be narrowly focused.

"The objective of United States here is to make an appropriate statement in a very timely fashion about the deaths of the four UNIFIL observers and not to make this statement a backdoor way of getting into ceasefire or other larger political and military questions," said Bolton. "That is not appropriate here."

The draft statement under Council consideration expresses shock and distress¹⁴ at the Israeli attack, and notes that the U.N. post was long-established and clearly marked. It expresses grave concern at the escalation¹⁵ of conflict in Lebanon, and calls on all parties to refrain from targeting U.N. peacekeepers.

1 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

2 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

4 hull   

n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳

参考例句：

• The outer surface of ship's hull is very hard.船体的外表面非常坚硬。
• The boat's hull has been staved in by the tremendous seas.小船壳让巨浪打穿了。

5 lute   

n.琵琶，鲁特琴

参考例句：

• He idly plucked the strings of the lute.他漫不经心地拨弄着鲁特琴的琴弦。
• He knows how to play the Chinese lute.他会弹琵琶。

6 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

7 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

8 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。

9 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

10 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

11 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

12 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

13 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。

14 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

15 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句