VOA常速英语2007年-Libyan Leader's Visit to France Brings Storm of

By Lisa Bryant
Paris
10 December 2007

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi arrives in Paris Monday for a five-day visit that has already generated a storm of protest from those who have not forgotten Libya's reputation as a supporter of terrorism. Lisa Bryant reports from the French capital the visit is also expected to generate business.

Mr. Gadhafi visit to France comes after several years of warming relations between the two nations that hit a low point in 1989 with the crash of a French DC-10 airliner¹ in a bombing over Niger. A deal was struck to compensate² the victims and former French president Jacques Chirac visited Libya soon after.

The invitation for the Libyan leader to visit Paris was issued by France's current President Nicolas Sarkozy after Paris helped secure the release of Bulgarian medics jailed in Libya on charges of infecting children with HIV/AIDS.

France and Libya are expected to sign a number of business agreements, including Libyan purchases of a nuclear reactor³, Airbus planes and possibly Rafael fighter jets.

Mr. Sarkozy has defended the visit - as did his foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner Monday on France Inter⁴ Radio. Still, Mr. Kouchner said he was resigned to Mr. Gadhafi visit - calling it a necessity.

Kouchner said it was important both to keep pushing for the principle of human rights and for the economic interests of France. And besides, he said, Libya has changed from the days it was labeled a terrorist state.

But opposition⁵ politicians, intellectuals and human rights activist⁶ have blasted the visit as an insult to terrorist victims. Remarks by Mr. Gadhafi in Portugal Friday that appeared to support terrorists did not help his cause here. The French government has also faced criticism for its intervention⁷ regarding the Bulgarian medics - and France's parliament is investigating the circumstances of their release.

1 airliner   

n.客机，班机

参考例句：

• The pilot landed the airliner safely.驾驶员使客机安全着陆。
• The passengers were shepherded across the tarmac to the airliner.旅客们被引导走过跑道去上飞机。

2 compensate   

vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消

参考例句：

• She used her good looks to compensate her lack of intelligence. 她利用她漂亮的外表来弥补智力的不足。
• Nothing can compensate for the loss of one's health. 一个人失去了键康是不可弥补的。

3 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

4 inter   

v.埋葬

参考例句：

• They interred their dear comrade in the arms.他们埋葬了他们亲爱的战友。
• The man who died in that accident has been interred.在那次事故中死的那个人已经被埋葬了。

5 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。

6 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

7 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。