VOA常速英语2007年-More Arrests Reported in Pakistan; Bhutto Prepa

By Barry Newhouse
Islamabad
08 November 2007
 

The Pakistan People Party of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto says police have arrested hundreds more of its supporters. Party officials say the arrests are aimed at sabotaging¹ a Friday rally called to protest President Pervez Musharraf's declaration of emergency rule, as VOA's Barry Newhouse reports from Islamabad.

A spokeswoman for the Pakistan People's Party, Farzana Raja, says more than a thousand party supporters are now under arrest, mostly in the country's most populous² province, Punjab.

She says the authorities continued rounding up party organizers overnight. While Ms. Bhutto called on people Wednesday to submit to arrest in order to protest the emergency decree, party leaders want a successful turnout at Friday's rally in Rawalpindi.

"For that reason, the main leadership and office bearers have gone underground [into hiding], and they are not available to the police so they can't arrest them," said Raja.

Law enforcement officials were unable to confirm the large-scale arrests when contacted by VOA. But police officials in Rawalpindi, the headquarters of Pakistan's armed forces, have said they will enforce the emergency laws, which ban such demonstrations³.

1 sabotaging   

阴谋破坏（某事物）( sabotage的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Mr Smith fiercely denied any question of sabotaging the talks. 史密斯先生坚决拒绝任何企图阻挠谈话的提问。
• Failed in sabotaging APEC summit in Sydney of Australia. 澳大利亚悉尼APEC会议遭遇惨败。

2 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

3 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。