2006年VOA标准英语-Israel Charges 3 Captured Hezbollah Fighters Wi

By Jim Teeple
Jerusalem
18 September 2006

Israeli authorities on Monday charged three Hezbollah militants¹ captured in Lebanon with murder and other terrorism-related crimes.

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Suspected Hezbollah guerrillas from left to right, Maher Kurani, 30, Mohammed Srur, 20, and Hussein Suleiman, 22, are seen handcuffed during a court appearance in the northern Israeli city of Nazareth, Monday, Sept. 18, 2006

Israel says its forces captured the three Lebanese men, who are all in their 20's, during its recent intervention² against Hezbollah in Lebanon. However, Israeli officials say the three are not prisoners of war, but terrorists who will be tried as common criminals. Mickey Rosenfeld is a spokesman for Israel's police.

"All three men are being charged for murder, attempted murder and being members of a terrorist organization, Hezbollah, and carrying out terrorist attacks against Israeli forces," said Rosenfeld.

The three were allegedly involved in the July 12 Hezbollah raid into Israel, during which two Israeli soldiers were abducted³. Eight other Israeli soldiers died in subsequent fighting. Mickey Rosenfeld says one reason the three are being charged as common criminals is because they were allegedly involved in an operation that took place inside Israel.

"The crimes that were committed and the attacks that happened did take place on Israeli soil, and this is the background and the basis of the decision that has been made about taking these three individuals, and charging them for what they are being charged for," said Rosenfeld.

A lawyer for one of the three men said on Monday that the three do not deny belonging to Hezbollah, but they consider themselves prisoners of war. Israel and the United States consider Hezbollah to be a terrorist organization, and Israel says it will not treat Hezbollah militants it captures as prisoners of war.

While they face lengthy⁴ prison terms, if convicted, the three are likely to be part of a prisoner exchange that is currently being negotiated by a senior U.N. official.

Monday's development came just a day after Israel's Cabinet appointed a commission of inquiry⁵ to examine the decision-making process behind the 34-day conflict in Lebanon. The Cabinet decision falls short of demands by many Israelis for a state commission of inquiry that would have the authority to recommend the dismissal of senior officials for their conduct of the war.

1 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。

2 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

3 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

4 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

5 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。