VOA常速英语2007年-Pakistani Police Continue Crackdown on Oppositi

By Barry Newhouse
Islamabad
05 November 2007

Police across Pakistan are rounding up more opposition¹ leaders and critics of President Pervez Musharraf, with reports of more than 1,500 arrested since Saturday. VOA's Barry Newhouse reports that protests turned violent in Lahore Monday when police clashed with demonstrating lawyers.

Witnesses said police arrested some 250 lawyers in Lahore as they tried to march in protest of the suspension of the constitution. Smaller protests were reported in Karachi and Rawalpindi.

In Islamabad, a few lawyers wearing their familiar black suits gathered near police barricades² outside the Supreme³ Court. Lawyer Abdulrehman Siddiqi said the judges who have sworn to uphold the new provisional constitution are not legitimate⁴.

"No judge is going to be recognized as judge of the Supreme Court or High Court and no lawyer is going to appear before them," he said.

Much of Pakistan's legal community has been critical of President Musharraf in recent months, particularly after he tried to remove the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Many senior judges are believed to be under house arrest.

The crackdown has also targeted political opposition supporters. Officials with the Jamaat-e-Islami party, one of Pakistan's largest Islamic parties said more than 500 supporters have been detained following a rally on Sunday in Lahore.

The deputy head of the party, Syed Munawar Hasan said instead of staging mass arrests during the rally, police waited for party members to return home.

 

"They had already been informed that police were waiting for them. So whenever they reached their house, even late in the night, they had been followed and arrested and put in different lock-ups," he said.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the best path for Pakistan is returning to constitutional rule and holding elections. Speaking at a news conference in the West Bank, she said an important step in the process would be for President Musharraf to step down as army chief.

The United States and Britain are reviewing their financial aid to Pakistan. Since 2001, U.S. aid to Pakistan has totaled more than $10 billion, mostly for the military.

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 barricades   

路障，障碍物( barricade的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The police stormed the barricades the demonstrators had put up. 警察冲破了示威者筑起的街垒。
• Others died young, in prison or on the barricades. 另一些人年轻时就死在监牢里或街垒旁。

3 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

4 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。