VOA常速英语2008年-East Timor President Slams International Troops

By Phil Mercer
Darwin
28 March 2008

East Timor's president has criticized Australian-led forces for failing to capture the rebels who shot him outside his home in Dili last month. For the first time, Jose Ramos-Horta has described how he walked into an ambush¹ and watched as a gunman lifted his rifle to shoot him. Mr. Ramos-Horta says that international peacekeepers were too slow in their attempts to catch his attackers. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.

Jose Ramos-Horta almost died when he was shot by rebel soldiers in East Timor last month.

He is now recovering from surgery in the northern Australian city of Darwin and on Friday, he spoke² about the attempt on his life. Mr. Ramos-Horta says he looked into the eyes of one of his attackers as the man prepared to fire at him, and then he turned to flee before being shot.

The president says help was slow to arrive as he bled in the street outside his home. He says he believes United Nations police had obstructed³ those who were trying to rescue him.

There was criticism, too, for international troops, whom Mr. Ramos-Horta accuses of not doing enough to keep his attackers from escaping.

"I would say that Australian-led forces could have promptly⁴ surrounded the entire town, closing all the exits, using helicopter, sending immediately elements to my house to get the information on the ground," he said. "They would have captured them within hours, because for many hours after the attack on my house they were still in the hills around my house."

Australian Defense⁵ Minister Joel Fitzgibbon says that overall, Mr. Ramos-Horta was complimentary⁶ about the effort to protect him and his country. The defense minister noted⁷ that Mr. Ramos-Horta had acknowledged that the foreign troops can not act without coordinating⁸ with officials from the East Timor government or the United Nations office there.

In addition, Fitzgibbon says, given the gravity of his injuries, the president could not objectively judge whether the response from peacekeepers was timely.

Despite the criticism, Jose Ramos-Horta has been full of praise for Australian soldiers whose donated blood helped to save his life.

The ambush was the work of rebels led by a former military police chief, Alfredo Reinado. He was killed in the attack but his key lieutenants⁹ escaped into the mountains that surround East Timor's capital, Dili.

So far eight fugitives¹⁰ have surrendered, and the hunt for others continues.

The attack on Mr. Ramos-Horta coincided with an ambush on the home of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, who escaped unharmed.

Clashes between army mutineers and units loyal to the East Timor government in 2006 prompted Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Portugal to send peacekeeping forces.

Reinforcements sent since the February attacked have boosted Australia's contingent¹¹ to about 1,100 soldiers and police officers.

 

The assassination¹² attempts in February on the tiny country's most senior leaders have highlighted East Timor's volatility¹³ six years after independence from Indonesia.

1 ambush   

n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击

参考例句：

• Our soldiers lay in ambush in the jungle for the enemy.我方战士埋伏在丛林中等待敌人。
• Four men led by a sergeant lay in ambush at the crossroads.由一名中士率领的四名士兵埋伏在十字路口。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 obstructed   

阻塞( obstruct的过去式和过去分词 )； 堵塞； 阻碍； 阻止

参考例句：

• Tall trees obstructed his view of the road. 有大树挡着，他看不到道路。
• The Irish and Bristol Channels were closed or grievously obstructed. 爱尔兰海峡和布里斯托尔海峡或遭受封锁，或受到了严重阻碍。

4 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

5 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

6 complimentary   

adj.赠送的，免费的，赞美的，恭维的

参考例句：

• She made some highly complimentary remarks about their school.她对他们的学校给予高度的评价。
• The supermarket operates a complimentary shuttle service.这家超市提供免费购物班车。

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 coordinating   

v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的现在分词 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• He abolished the Operations Coordinating Board and the Planning Board. 他废除了行动协调委员会和计划委员会。 来自辞典例句
• He's coordinating the wedding, and then we're not going to invite him? 他是来协调婚礼的，难道我们不去请他？ 来自电影对白

9 lieutenants   

n.陆军中尉( lieutenant的名词复数 )；副职官员；空军；仅低于…官阶的官员

参考例句：

• In the army, lieutenants are subordinate to captains. 在陆军中，中尉是上尉的下级。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Lieutenants now cap at 1.5 from 1. Recon at 1. 中尉现在由1人口增加的1.5人口。侦查小组成员为1人口。 来自互联网

10 fugitives   

n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Three fugitives from the prison are still at large. 三名逃犯仍然未被抓获。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Members of the provisional government were prisoners or fugitives. 临时政府的成员或被捕或逃亡。 来自演讲部分

11 contingent   

adj.视条件而定的；n.一组，代表团，分遣队

参考例句：

• The contingent marched in the direction of the Western Hills.队伍朝西山的方向前进。
• Whether or not we arrive on time is contingent on the weather.我们是否按时到达要视天气情况而定。

12 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

13 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。