VOA常速英语2007年-Diplomats Converge on Annapolis for Middle East

By David Gollust
Annapolis
27 November 2007

Senior officials from nearly 50 countries and international organizations have gathered in Annapolis, Maryland near Washington for a conference aimed at launching final-status peace negotiations¹ between Israel and the Palestinians. The meeting, the product of months of Middle East diplomacy² by the Bush administration, is intended to reopen peace talks between the two sides for the first time in seven years. VOA's David Gollust reports from the conference site at the U.S. Naval³ Academy.

Administration officials are cautioning in advance that the joint⁴ declaration the Israelis and Palestinians will issue at the close of the one-day meeting will not reflect progress on the core issues of the Middle East dispute, such as the status of Jerusalem and future rights of Palestinian refugees.

But they do say it will commit the sides to reopen full-scale negotiations aimed at an agreement for a two-state solution of their conflict, hopefully before the end of President Bush's term in January 2009.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice laid the groundwork for the meeting during eight trips to the Middle East this year. Largely due to those efforts, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have already begun regular meetings on the outlines of a peace accord, the so-called "political horizon."

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack says the Annapolis conference, attended by more than 40 countries including Saudi Arabia, Syria and other major Arab countries, will amount to an international endorsement⁵ of a negotiating process that is already underway:

"They agreed that Annapolis, rather than an end in itself, would be more of a launching point for going forward, launching into final-status negotiations that would take place over some time. So it is an endorsement and a signal of support for that process and the fact that these two leaders have taken a major step in trying to bring about peace in the Middle East and peace between Israelis and Palestinians," he said.

President Bush met separately with President Abbas and Prime Minister Olmert Monday on the eve of the meeting here, and the three will officially open the conference with brief remarks.

Secretary Rice will then chair three plenary meetings during the course of the day. The first will deal with Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking, the second on institution- building for the envisaged⁶ Palestinian state, and the final one, late Tuesday, on the outlines of comprehensive peace between Israel and the Arab world.

Administration officials are stressing the presence here of all 12 member countries of the Arab League's special committee on the organization's 2002 peace overture⁷ to Israel, most of which do not have diplomatic relations with Israel.

The Arab League plan, renewed by the organization earlier this year, offers Israel Arab-wide political recognition if it reaches peace with the Palestinians and settles outstanding issues with Syria.

Syria has made its presence here dependent on its ability to raise the issue of the Golan Heights, which Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war. U.S. officials say the Syrian delegate, Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, is free to do this in the closing plenary on broader regional issues.

1 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

2 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

3 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

4 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

5 endorsement   

n.背书；赞成，认可，担保；签(注)，批注

参考例句：

• We are happy to give the product our full endorsement.我们很高兴给予该产品完全的认可。
• His presidential campaign won endorsement from several celebrities.他参加总统竞选得到一些社会名流的支持。

6 envisaged   

想像，设想( envisage的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He envisaged an old age of loneliness and poverty. 他面对着一个孤独而贫困的晚年。
• Henry Ford envisaged an important future for the motor car. 亨利·福特为汽车设想了一个远大前程。

7 overture   

n.前奏曲、序曲，提议，提案，初步交涉

参考例句：

• The opera was preceded by a short overture.这部歌剧开始前有一段简短的序曲。
• His overture led to nothing.他的提议没有得到什么结果。