VOA标准英语2009年-US Confirms Receipt of Hamas Letter for Obama

The State Department confirmed Friday U.S. diplomats¹ have received a letter to President Obama from the militant² Islamic group Hamas, which controls the Gaza strip. The letter was passed to U.S. Senator John Kerry when he visited Gaza Thursday.
　
U.S. Senator John Kerry in Gaza

Officials here are not revealing the substance of the letter. But they say it is now in the hands of the U.S. Consulate-General in Jerusalem, which handles U.S. relations with the Palestinian areas, and that the letter or certainly its contents will be communicated to Washington.

A senior State Department official told reporters that Senator Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, received the letter among other documents from U.N. staffers during his tour of Gaza Thursday, which was the highest-level visit by a U.S. political figure since Hamas seized control there in 2007.

He said Kerry, on a visit to assess humanitarian³ needs in Gaza after the conflict between Israel and Hamas, had no personal contact with any Hamas members himself. He said the White House has been informed of the development.

President Obama has spoken of the need to improve U.S. relations with the Muslim world and for dialogue with countries like Iran with which the United States has no formal relations.

But at a news briefing earlier Friday, State Department Deputy Spokesman Gordon Duguid indicated there has been no change in long-standing U.S. policy shunning⁴ contacts with Hamas as long as it does not recognize Israel. "Should they accept the existence of the state of Israel, should they stop trying to violently overthrow⁵ the state of Israel, should they wish to re-engage in the peace process and stop trying to re-arm by smuggling⁶ rockets and other arms into Gaza, then there could be a place for them in future discussions."

There have been conflicting comments from Hamas about the letter. One spokesman for the group said the Obama letter had come from a mid-level Hamas official who acted on his own, rather than as representative of the militant group.

Another denied the group had written a letter to the President but said Hamas was generally open to dialogue.

In another development, the State Department confirmed Friday that Syrian Ambassador to Washington Imad Mustafa has been invited to the department next week for a discussion with Acting⁷ U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman.

Relations between the two countries have been strained and such meetings are infrequent. The United States has not had a full-fledged ambassador in Damascus since 2005, after the assassination⁸ of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Spokesman Duguid said Feltman would reiterate⁹ long-standing U.S. concerns about Syrian interference in Lebanese affairs, support for radical¹⁰ opponents of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, and efforts to acquire non-conventional weapons.

Thursday, the State Department expressed concern about a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency that traces of enriched uranium were found at a Syrian nuclear site bombed by Israel in 2007, and it urged full Syrian cooperation with the IAEA.

Duguid said the Syrian envoy¹¹ will be free to raise all issues of concern to Damascus at the State Department meeting, the first of its kind since last September.

1 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

3 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

4 shunning   

v.避开，回避，避免( shun的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• My flight was more a shunning of external and internal dangers. 我的出走是要避开各种外在的和内在的威胁。 来自辞典例句
• That book Yeh-yeh gave me-"On Filial Piety and the Shunning of Lewdness"-was still on the table. 我坐下来，祖父给我的那本《刘芷唐先生教孝戒淫浅训》还在桌子上。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

5 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

6 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

7 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

8 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。

9 reiterate   

v.重申，反复地说

参考例句：

• Let me reiterate that we have absolutely no plans to increase taxation.让我再一次重申我们绝对没有增税的计划。
• I must reiterate that our position on this issue is very clear.我必须重申我们对这一项议题的立场很清楚。

10 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

11 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。