VOA常速英语2008年-Australian Troops Targeted By Rebels in East Ti

By Phil Mercer
Sydney
08 February 2008

There has been an explosion at an army base in East Timor shared by Australian and New Zealand peacekeepers. Earlier this week, East Timorese rebels fired at Australian troops southwest of the capital, Dili. The rebels are led by fugitive¹ East Timor army Major Alfredo Reinado. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.

The explosion happened at Camp Phoenix², which houses parts of the International Stabilization³ Force, in the center of Dili.  Both Australian and New Zealand troops are based there.

No injuries have been reported and an investigation⁴ by United Nations police is under way to try to determine the cause of the blast.

Authorities have not said whether the incident may be linked to an incident in Ermera district on Wednesday. Shots were fired at an Australian patrol, which did not return fire and left the area.

Australian and New Zealand forces, along with others from Portugal and Malaysia, were sent to East Timor to restore order after a wave of civil unrest in 2006.

The violence forced tens of thousands of East Timorese from their homes in the capital, Dili, and surrounding regions.  Relief agencies are still struggling to cope.

Aid worker Luis Viera says life is difficult for those forced to live in relief camps set up to house displaced people.

"People have fled to places that weren't built to support such large populations, so you have to deal with space constraints⁵, shelter constraints, the issues relating to water sanitation⁶, not enough toilets, etcetera," he said. "So, yeah, the situation is of course very, very difficult."

Threats of more instability have prevented many from leaving the squalid camps.

Rebels led by Alfredo Reinado, a renegade former military police chief, are thought to have been responsible for Wednesday's shooting incident. Reinado has been on the run since he was arrested on charges of illegal weapons distribution, desertion and attempted murder following the violence in 2006.  He has led a revolt against East Timor's government and authorities there blame him for much of the trouble two years ago.

East Timor, a former Portuguese⁷ colony, voted to break away from Indonesia in a violence-marred vote in 1999.

It became independent in 2002 after a period of U.N. administration, but remains⁸ one of the world's poorest countries.

1 fugitive   

adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者

参考例句：

• The police were able to deduce where the fugitive was hiding.警方成功地推断出那逃亡者躲藏的地方。
• The fugitive is believed to be headed for the border.逃犯被认为在向国境线逃窜。

2 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

3 Stabilization   

稳定化

参考例句：

• The position of barycentre on plane directly impacts the stabilization and manipulation of plane. 飞机重心位置直接影响飞机的稳定和操纵特性。
• With the higher olefins, stabilization of the energetic intermediates occurs more easily. 在较高的烯烃情况下，高能的中间物稳定作用更易出现。

4 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

5 constraints   

强制( constraint的名词复数 )； 限制； 约束

参考例句：

• Data and constraints can easily be changed to test theories. 信息库中的数据和限制条件可以轻易地改变以检验假设。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• What are the constraints that each of these imply for any design? 这每种产品的要求和约束对于设计意味着什么？ 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

6 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

7 Portuguese   

n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语

参考例句：

• They styled their house in the Portuguese manner.他们仿照葡萄牙的风格设计自己的房子。
• Her family is Portuguese in origin.她的家族是葡萄牙血统。

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。