2007年VOA标准英语-ASEAN Foreign Ministers Prepare Counter-Terrori

By Douglas Bakshian
Cebu, Philippines
12 January 2007

Southeast Asian foreign ministers have taken a step forward in the war on terrorism, preparing a draft convention that allows security agencies to cooperate more on tracking, finding and prosecuting¹ terrorists. The draft was approved Friday, and leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations are expected to give their final approval Saturday. Douglas Bakshian reports from the ASEAN summit in the Philippine city of Cebu.

 
Foreign Ministers of China, South Korea and Japan open meeting between three countries as a sidebar of ASEAN meeting in Mactan, Cebu province in central Philippines, 12 Jan 2007 
The convention is designed to clamp down on the unregulated movement of arms and militants³ in the region. The draft says ASEAN's individual national security agencies would have to coordinate⁴ their efforts to track, arrest, detain and rehabilitate⁵ suspected militants. They would also be required to beef up border controls and suppress terrorist financing.

The convention would make it a legal obligation for the 10 ASEAN countries to work together in these areas.

Rohan Gunaratna, a terrorism specialist at the Singapore Institute of Defense⁶ and Strategic Studies, says this is a step in the right direction in the war on terror.

"It will have a significant impact because today the specialist counter-terrorism capabilities⁷ of individual governments are quite good, but there is limited cooperation, coordination⁸ and collaboration⁹ between the governments," he said. "If there is greater understanding and agreement … then certainly the national security agencies … will cooperate much better to fight terrorism and extremism more effectively."

Gunaratna says terrorist and extremist groups in the region are cooperating and collaborating¹⁰ with each other, so the authorities must work together in a similar manner to counter the threat. He says terrorists are constantly moving among the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, nations with many large and small islands that make the borders difficult to police.

Summit spokesman Victoriano says the convention would bring ASEAN into line with internationally accepted definitions of terrorism.

"The ASEAN countries will adopt the definitions of what constitute terror-related crimes spelled out in various U.N. conventions, which could be against aircraft, airports, seacraft, maritime¹¹ structures and the like," he said.

 
Phillipine bomb blast victim at  General Santos hospital 
Terrorism is a persistent¹² problem in the region. Just days ago, the southern Philippines was rocked by several bombings that killed at least six people and wounded dozens. Authorities suspect the bombings were the work of a local militant² who is working with the regional Islamic terrorist group, Jemaah Islamiyah.

Jemaah Islamiyah is accused of being behind bombings on the Indonesian island of Bali in 2002 and 2005 that together killed 225 people. The group is also accused of several other fatal bombings over the past several years in Jakarta, and in the Philippines.

There has also been terrorist activity in recent years in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

1 prosecuting   

检举、告发某人( prosecute的现在分词 )； 对某人提起公诉； 继续从事（某事物）； 担任控方律师

参考例句：

• The witness was cross-examined by the prosecuting counsel. 证人接受控方律师的盘问。
• Every point made by the prosecuting attorney was telling. 检查官提出的每一点都是有力的。

2 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。

3 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。

4 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

5 rehabilitate   

vt.改造(罪犯)，修复；vi.复兴，(罪犯)经受改造

参考例句：

• There was no money to rehabilitate the tower.没有资金修复那座塔。
• He used exercise programmes to rehabilitate the patients.他采用体育锻炼疗法使患者恢复健康。

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

8 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

9 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

10 collaborating   

合作( collaborate的现在分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• Joe is collaborating on the work with a friend. 乔正与一位朋友合作做那件工作。
• He was not only learning from but also collaborating with Joseph Thomson. 他不仅是在跟约瑟福？汤姆逊学习，而且也是在和他合作。

11 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

12 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。