VOA标准英语2009年-Lockerbie Victims' Families Seek Answers

By Jennifer Glasse
London
20 October 2009

In 1988, an American airliner¹ flying from London to New York exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing² 270 people. A Libyan man was the only person convicted of involvement, and he was released in late August by Scottish authorities because he is suffering from cancer. Abdelbaset Ali Al-Megrahi dropped his appeal before he was released, and some thought that might be the end of the 21-year Lockerbie saga³. Some victims' relatives believe there are still unanswered questions and are seeking legal avenues to raise them.

 
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi (l) welcomes freed Lockerbie bomber⁴ Abdel Baset al-Megrahi in Tripoli, 21 Aug 2009
The only man convicted in the Lockerbie bombing arrived in Libya to a jubilant welcome that upset families of those who killed in 1988. Scottish authories freed Abdelbaset Ali Al Megrahi on compassionate⁵ grounds, because he has terminal cancer. Many families are angry because Megrahi served only eight and a half years of his 27-year sentence, others because they hoped he would be proven innocent.

Reverend John Mosey's 19-year-old daughter Helga was killed. He didn't object to Megrahi's release, but is upset because the Libyan decided⁶ to abandon the appeal of his conviction.

"I'm pleased he's gone home because my opinion is colored by my feeling that he was almost certainly not guilty, but the important thing was that he dropped his appeal and that is [the] great tragedy in this," Mosey said.

Mosey and some other relatives had hoped the legal appeal would bring to light new evidence. The 1988 attack on Pan Am flight 103 killed all on board and 11 people on the ground in Lockerbie, Scotland. No one credible⁷ claimed responsibility. A 1991 British accident Investigation⁸ established the cause as a bomb hidden in luggage. That same year a criminal investigation led to the indictment⁹ both in the US and Scotland of two Libyans. Some families of the dead say there still hasn't been a full investigation.

 
Reverend John Mosey
"We've never stopped asking the questions, we've never been given a forum¹⁰ to ask the proper questions and this has given it a fresh impetus¹¹. But you see it's not about Megrahi. It's about 270 innocent people who were blown out of the sky six miles above the Scottish borders, that's what it is about," he said.

The Libyans went to trial a decade after the indictment in a Scottish Court in the Netherlands. Only Megrahi was found guilty. The British prime minister said justice had been done, and Libya eventually paid $2.1 billion in compensation to victims' families.

But some of the relatives say the trial was unsatisfactory. Among them is Dr. Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora¹² died in the bombing. Swire wants to know more about an alleged¹³ break-in in the baggage area of London's Heathrow airport hours before Pan Am 103 took off. It wasn't addressed in the trial.

 
Dr. Jim Swire
"I myself took a copy of the Lockerbie bomb on board a British Airways¹⁴ plane at that same airport in 1989 and wasn't stopped from doing so and flew to America with it. It seemed to us very obvious that there were major major flaws in security at that airport," Swire said.

Every year families on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean commemorate¹⁵ their loved ones on the anniversary of the bombing. Some blame Libya, others hope they will be able to find answers through their own legal appeal, possibly through the United Nations, a British government public inquiry¹⁶ or a legal case in the European Court of Human Rights.

"It's very easy to lose sight of the foundations of why we've been fighting for 20-odd years. All we want to know is who murdered our family members and why they were not prevented from doing so and it's that - why they were not prevented from doing so - that is causing a great deal of difficulty for us now because of what we do know which suggests that a causation of this was probably very different from what's been presented to the world," Swire said.

Libyan authorities allowed a television camera into the hospital to show that Megrahi was clearly very ill, and unwilling¹⁷ or unable to answer questions.

His release put the Lockerbie bombing firmly back in the public eye. Victim's families hope their quest to learn more about the attack will not die with him.

 

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 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 saga   

n.(尤指中世纪北欧海盗的)故事，英雄传奇

参考例句：

• The saga of Flight 19 is probably the most repeated story about the Bermuda Triangle.飞行19中队的传说或许是有关百慕大三角最重复的故事。
• The novel depicts the saga of a family.小说描绘了一个家族的传奇故事。

4 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

5 compassionate   

adj.有同情心的，表示同情的

参考例句：

• She is a compassionate person.她是一个有同情心的人。
• The compassionate judge gave the young offender a light sentence.慈悲的法官从轻判处了那个年轻罪犯。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

8 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。

9 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

10 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

11 impetus   

n.推动，促进，刺激；推动力

参考例句：

• This is the primary impetus behind the economic recovery.这是促使经济复苏的主要动力。
• Her speech gave an impetus to my ideas.她的讲话激发了我的思绪。

12 flora   

n.(某一地区的)植物群

参考例句：

• The subtropical island has a remarkably rich native flora.这个亚热带岛屿有相当丰富的乡土植物种类。
• All flora need water and light.一切草木都需要水和阳光。

13 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

14 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。

15 commemorate   

vt.纪念，庆祝

参考例句：

• This building was built to commemorate the Fire of London.这栋大楼是为纪念“伦敦大火”而兴建的。
• We commemorate the founding of our nation with a public holiday.我们放假一日以庆祝国庆。

16 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

17 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。