VOA常速英语2007-Saudi King Criticizes Britain's Reaction to Terr

By Tom Rivers
London
29 October 2007

On the eve of his historic visit to Britain, Saudi King Abdullah says London is not doing enough to combat terrorism and in an exclusive interview with the BBC, he criticized the then government of Tony Blair for failing to act on Saudi intelligence that could have prevented the deadly suicide attacks in London in July 2005. For VOA, Tom Rivers reports.

Interviewed ahead of his state visit to Britain, Saudi King Abdullah has accused Britain of not acting¹ on Saudi anti-terrorist intelligence that, he says, may have prevented the attack on London's subway system and a bus on July 7, 2005 that killed 52.

Through a translator, he has told the BBC that his government passed on information about the plot.

"I believe most countries are not taking this issue too seriously including unfortunately Great Britain," he said. "We have sent information to Great Britain before the terrorist attacks in Britain but unfortunately no action was taken and it may have been able to maybe avert² the tragedy."

But last year, the House of Commons intelligence and security committee uncovered no evidence that the specific information mentioned could have prevented the bombings.

Meanwhile, the government here refuses calls for a public inquiry³ into what Britain's intelligence community knew about the cell ahead of the attack. It is known that two of the four bombers⁴ came under British domestic intelligence scrutiny⁵ in the months before the attack was launched in the British capital.

As to the global terrorist threat in general, King Abdullah told the BBC that it will take a long time to suppress.

"No, it has not been completely defeated and I believe strongly as I mentioned to you earlier, I believe and I have said so in my public comments, that it will take 20 to 30 years to defeat the scourge⁶ of terrorism with vigilant⁷ effort," he said.

Specifically, he said al-Qaida remains⁸ a problem for his country.

The King's trip will feature meetings with Britain's royal family and discussions with Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

The visit will also carry with it a share of controversy⁹. Human rights protesters plan a number of demonstrations¹⁰ outside of the Saudi Arabian embassy this week. Also under scrutiny will be some British arms deals to the kingdom dating back some 20 years.

1 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

2 avert   

v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等)

参考例句：

• He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
• I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。

3 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。

4 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

6 scourge   

n.灾难，祸害；v.蹂躏

参考例句：

• Smallpox was once the scourge of the world.天花曾是世界的大患。
• The new boss was the scourge of the inefficient.新老板来了以后，不称职的人就遭殃了。

7 vigilant   

adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的

参考例句：

• He has to learn how to remain vigilant through these long nights.他得学会如何在这漫长的黑夜里保持警觉。
• The dog kept a vigilant guard over the house.这只狗警醒地守护着这所房屋。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

10 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。