VOA常速英语2008年-South African President Urges Restraint on Zimb

By Tom Rivers
London
05 April 2008

Despite the delay in the release of Zimbabwe's official election results, South African President Thabo Mbeki said Saturday that the international community should wait for first round results to come out before considering any form of intervention¹. He was speaking at a meeting of world leaders outside London. For VOA, Tom Rivers has details from the British capital.

At the meeting in Watford, outside London, South African President Thabo Mbeki said he believes the current situation in Zimbabwe is, in his words, "manageable" and that the world should wait for the results from last week's presidential election to be published before considering options.

"Both President Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai have said, in the event that there is a need for a runoff, nobody has got the required numbers, they are quite ready, both sides, to have a rerun of the presidential elections," he said.  "And I think, let us allow and assist that the election process to go forward as planned.  We will see what results come out but as I say both Tsvangirai and Mugabe, they are quite ready for a second round. "

But British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, also speaking at the conference, said those first round results must come out and come out soon.

"The results have got to be published," he said.  "They cannot be any longer delayed. The elections have got to be seen to be fair and that is what I think is the united view of everybody here."

If there is a second round, Mr. Brown stressed that it must be seen as free and fair in the eyes of the world.

"In addition to us saying that the results should not be delayed, we are determined² that of course there are international observers if there is a second round," he added.

As leaders inside and outside Zimbabwe continued to wait for the election results, a group of about 100 exiles held a noisy demonstration³ near Zimbabwe's embassy in central London. They chanted, "now is the time for change" and they urged President Mugabe to "go now."

Mr. Brown and Mr. Mbeki will hold bilateral⁴ meetings on Sunday on Zimbabwe.

1 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。

2 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

3 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

4 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。