VOA标准英语2010年-Al-Qaida Group in Yemen Reaches Out to

Said Ali al-Shihri, deputy chief of al-Qaida's offshoot in Yemen in a 2009 file photo taken from undated video posted on a militant¹-leaning Web site, and provided by the SITE Intelligence Group

A Yemen-based al-Qaida group is calling for regional coordination² with rebels in Somalia.  The governments of both countries are facing powerful insurgencies from Islamist forces.

The deputy commander of the militant group known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, Said Ali al-Shihri, has issued an audio statement urging the Somali al-Shabab militants³ to join with his group in blocking U.S. maritime⁴ shipments to Israel.

Yemen sits only 30 kilometers across the ocean from Somalia's smaller northern neighbor Djibouti. The strait connects the Red Sea to the Gulf⁵ of Aden, which leads out to the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean.

Across the gulf in Somalia, a shaky Western-backed government is under siege from rebels who control most of the country's south and much of the capital Mogadishu.

The most powerful of the rebel groups goes by the name al-Shabab, meaning "the youth" in Arabic. It has called for strict sharia law in areas under its control, and its leadership is believed to include a number of foreign Islamist militants.

The stronghold of the radical⁶ Somali rebel group is in the southern part of the country, hundreds of kilometers from the Gulf of Aden waters separating the two nations.

The al-Qaida affiliates⁷ operating in Yemen made international headlines following a Christmas Day attempt to blow up a U.S. airliner⁸. The Nigerian charged with trying to execute the suicide attack was trained in Yemen. Al-Qaida has claimed responsibility for his plans.

While analysts⁹ doubt that the two nations' bands of Islamic militants are currently strongly connected with each other, Western security officials are concerned that the two may forge greater ties and create a regional stronghold for the wider global militant movement.

The seafaring capabilities¹⁰ of Somalis have come under international attention the past few years due to an explosion of organized piracy¹¹ that has developed off the shorelines of the lawless nation. The illicit¹² industry has resulted in the hijacking¹³ of scores of commercial ships, released by the sea bandits once paid a hefty ransom¹⁴.

The base for this pirate activity is mostly off the northeastern semi-autonomous region of Puntland. These northern pirates are generally not connected to al-Shabab in the South, though some financial ties may exist.

Shihri, a Saudi Arabian, was captured by U.S. forces in 2001 and held in captivity¹⁵ at the U.S. detention¹⁶ center at Guantanamo Bay until 2007, when he was sent back to Saudi Arabia.

 

1 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。

2 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

3 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

4 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

5 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

6 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。

7 affiliates   

附属企业( affiliate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She affiliates with an academic society. 她是某学术团体的成员。
• For example, these security affiliates participated in the floating of 19,000,000,000 of issues in 1927. 例如，这些证券发行机构在1927年的流通证券中，就提供了一百九十亿美元的证券。

8 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。

9 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

10 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

11 piracy   

n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害

参考例句：

• The government has already adopted effective measures against piracy.政府已采取有效措施惩治盗版行为。
• They made the place a notorious centre of piracy.他们把这地方变成了臭名昭著的海盗中心。

12 illicit   

adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He had an illicit association with Jane.他和简曾有过不正当关系。
• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year.今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。

13 hijacking   

n. 劫持, 抢劫 动词hijack的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• I have been told about the hijacking . 我已听说了那次劫机事件。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 口语
• They are taking measures to guarantee against the occurrence of hijacking. 他们正采取措施防止劫机事件的发生。

14 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

15 captivity   

n.囚禁；被俘；束缚

参考例句：

• A zoo is a place where live animals are kept in captivity for the public to see.动物园是圈养动物以供公众观看的场所。
• He was held in captivity for three years.他被囚禁叁年。

16 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。