2007年VOA标准英语-US Pressures Egypt to Stop Iraqi Insurgent TV B

By Challiss McDonough
Cairo
18 January 2007

For months, Iraqi and U.S. officials have been trying to shut down a satellite television station that shows Iraqi insurgent¹ videos and denounces the Shi'ite-led government of Iraq. But the station continues to be broadcast on Nilesat, a satellite provider run by the government of Egypt, one of Washington's closest allies in the Middle East. VOA Correspondent Challiss McDonough has more from Cairo.

The station is called Al-Zawraa, and it carries a continuous loop of video footage showing insurgent bomb and mortar² attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq. The images, some of them extremely graphic³, are captured on grainy, shaky video.

The Iraqi government has been trying to shut Al-Zawraa down for months. They closed its broadcast operation in Iraq in November, but instead of going off the air, the channel went underground. It continues to be broadcast through a Cairo-based company called Nilesat, which is majority-owned and operated by the Egyptian government.

Egypt is one of Washington's top allies in the Middle East, and the U.S. government has been pressuring Egypt to yank the station off the air. A State Department official told VOA that U.S. Embassy in Cairo has "raised concerns about al-Zawraa" with Egyptian officials in December, and asked that the station be removed from NileSat.

But it is still there.

Nilesat chief Amin Bassiouni says as far as he is concerned, it is simply a business decision, and Nilesat has to honor its contract with the station's owners.

"We have nothing to do with the content because our contract says, since you are paying for the lease you are controlling the satellite. We do not interfere⁴ with any content of any channel altogether," he said.

Bassiouni also says neither the Iraqi nor the Egyptian governments have formally requested to have the station removed. He says absent a direct order, his hands are tied.

"So if you want to talk, just talk to the Iraqi authorities or the Egyptian authorities to order us to stop it," he said. "Because if I dare to stop it now, I will be in the court tomorrow."

The issue of Al-Zawraa has become extremely sensitive in Egypt, and it seems that nobody really wants to talk about it.

The Egyptian information ministry⁵ has refused VOA's repeated requests for comment. The information ministry referred all questions to Nilesat, while Nilesat told VOA to talk to the information ministry. On Wednesday, VOA was finally granted a brief telephone interview with Nilesat chief Bassiouni after two weeks of trying.

The director of the television journalism⁶ program at the American University in Cairo, Lawrence Pintak, has been researching the station since late last year.

"The official line is that this is just business - Nilesat's a business and they have a contract with these guys and we are transmitting. The reality, as anyone who knows Egyptian media [knows], that the government could pull the plug in an instant, " he said.

The question that many analysts⁷ are asking is why the Egyptian government has not done so. One theory is that it reflects the chilling of relations between Egypt and the United States, and some analysts suggest Cairo is trying to distance itself from Washington. Another theory is that there is a sectarian motive⁸, connected to Egypt's distrust of the Shi'ite-led government of Iraq and concern over the rising influence of Iran in the region.

Nilesat says business is business, and it carries other channels that the Egyptian government does not like, including Al Jazeera, whose journalists have been repeatedly arrested or harassed⁹. Pintak says there are limits what Nilesat is willing to carry, and those limits generally reflect the government's stance.

"You do not see a Muslim Brotherhood¹⁰ television station on Nilesat. You do not see the Shi'ite militant¹¹ group that is headed by Moqtada al-Sadr on Nilesat," he noted¹². "You do see this Sunni insurgent group on Nilesat."

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak triggered outrage¹³ in Iraq last year when he said Shi'ite Iraqis are likely to be more loyal to Iran than to their own country.

On the station, some video footage of insurgent attacks is accompanied by music praising the Sunni insurgency¹⁴. Announcers in military fatigues¹⁵ read statements condemning¹⁶ the Shi'ite-led Iraqi government and the Iraqi militia¹⁷ known as the Mahdi Army, led by Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. A woman, whose face is completely covered by a red-and-white keffiyeh, vows¹⁸ that the insurgency will "avenge¹⁹ every martyr²⁰."

Although the channel is clearly affiliated²¹ with the insurgency, Pintak says U.S. efforts to shut it down do raise some questions about freedom of expression.

"Clearly, there is an inherent contradiction in the United States government, which espouses²² democracy and a free press, demanding that, and they are demanding behind the scenes, that this channel be killed, that the plug be pulled," he said. "There is also an irony²³ that the Egyptian government, which has thousands if not tens-of-thousands of people who they describe as Islamist extremists in prison, and they are hosting a channel that is the voice and the face of the most militant of Sunni extremists in Iraq."

Al-Zawraa is owned by former Iraqi lawmaker Mishan al-Jibouri, who fled to Syria after being charged with corruption²⁴ and embezzlement²⁵.

Jibouri told the Christian²⁶ Science Monitor newspaper recently that he has signed contracts with two other satellite providers to continue broadcasting the station even if Nilesat pulls it off the air.

1 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

2 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。

3 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

4 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

5 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

6 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

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 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。

9 harassed   

adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He has complained of being harassed by the police. 他投诉受到警方侵扰。
• harassed mothers with their children 带着孩子的疲惫不堪的母亲们

10 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

11 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。

12 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

13 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

14 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

15 fatigues   

n.疲劳( fatigue的名词复数 )；杂役；厌倦；（士兵穿的）工作服

参考例句：

• The patient fatigues easily. 病人容易疲劳。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Instead of training the men were put on fatigues/fatigue duty. 那些士兵没有接受训练，而是派去做杂务。 来自辞典例句

16 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》

17 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。

18 vows   

誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿

参考例句：

• Matrimonial vows are to show the faithfulness of the new couple. 婚誓体现了新婚夫妇对婚姻的忠诚。
• The nun took strait vows. 那位修女立下严格的誓愿。

19 avenge   

v.为...复仇，为...报仇

参考例句：

• He swore to avenge himself on the mafia.他发誓说要向黑手党报仇。
• He will avenge the people on their oppressor.他将为人民向压迫者报仇。

20 martyr   

n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲

参考例句：

• The martyr laid down his life for the cause of national independence.这位烈士是为了民族独立的事业而献身的。
• The newspaper carried the martyr's photo framed in black.报上登载了框有黑边的烈士遗像。

21 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。

22 espouses   

v.（决定）支持，拥护（目标、主张等）( espouse的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She followed the feminist movement; The candidate espouses Republican ideals. 她支持女权运动；这个侯选人支持共和党人的观点。 来自互联网
• Give me a break – every decent company espouses these things! 让我歇歇吧–每一个正规公司都赞成这些！ 来自互联网

23 irony   

n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄

参考例句：

• She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
• In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。

24 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

25 embezzlement   

n.盗用，贪污

参考例句：

• He was accused of graft and embezzlement and was chained and thrown into prison.他因被指控贪污盗窃而锒铛入狱。
• The judge sent him to prison for embezzlement of funds.法官因他盗用公款将其送入监牢。

26 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。