VOA标准英语2011-Arab League Calls Lebanese Crisis ‘Seri

The resignations of 11 Hezbollah cabinet members in Lebanon has plunged¹ the country into its worst political crisis since 2008, when sectarian street clashes claimed dozens of lives and brought Lebanon to the brink² of another civil war. The so-called Doha agreement of May, 2008, ended 18 months of political violence.

The latest crisis revolves³ around the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal investigating the suicide bombing that killed former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and 22 others in 2005. Saudi-backed Prime Minister Saad Hariri, son of the slain⁴ statesman, has supported the Tribunal, which has been set to blame Hezbollah. Hezbollah has denied any involvement in Hariri's death, shifting the blame to Israeli.

Both Syria and Saudi Arabia had been working to mediate⁵ the controversy⁶, but those talks broke down earlier this week without any resolution.

Hisham Youssef is the Chief of Staff for the Secretary General of the League of Arab States Amr Moussa. He spoke⁷ to VOA's Cecily Hilleary from his office in Cairo.

Hilleary: How serious is the current situation?

Youssef: It is extremely serious. There is a political crisis, and therefore, it requires the attention not only of the Arab world, but of the international community as well.

Hilleary: There had been some optimism that Syria and Saudi Arabia's mediation⁸ would have a positive effect. But the discussions failed rather suddenly. What happened?

Youssef: Well, they weren't able to persuade the different political forces in Lebanon to reach an understanding that would allow them to agree on a future path of how to deal with the problems.

Hilleary: What was the main sticking point?

Youssef: The main sticking point is how to deal with the International Tribunal.

Hilleary: What is the Arab League's stand on the Tribunal?

Youssef: Well, this is a tribunal that is mandated⁹ by the [United Nations] Security Council.? Therefore, it is part of international legitimacy¹⁰. And as part of the international legitimacy and part of Security Council resolutions, then we cannot but respect Security Council resolutions.

Our only remark that we can say in relation to this issue is that this Tribunal should not be politicized. And we should ensure that it does its work in profession. That is the most important aspect of the Tribunal.

Hilleary: Do you agree with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's remarks that the withdrawal¹¹ by the so-called March 8th ministers was simply an attempt to derail the Tribunal?

Youssef: Well, I think the situation is more complicated than that. However, we have to look to the future and see how we can help the different political forces in Lebanon regain¹² normalcy and go back to a government that would be able to shoulder the responsibility of challenges facing Lebanon.

Hilleary: When will the League be meeting on this crisis, and what role do you see the Arab League playing in helping¹³ to resolve it?

Youssef: Well, as you may know, the Arab League has been extremely active regarding the difficulties facing Lebanon for quite some time, and the Doha agreement that was reached was reached in the context of Arab efforts that was [sic] led by the Arab League.

So the situation in Lebanon is of concern to us and we have been following this issue very closely, including efforts by Saudi Arabia and Syria. And we have a summit that will take place in Sharm el-Sheikh in a few days' time. This will be preceded on the 17th of January with a ministerial meeting.

And I'm sure that the Ministers of Foreign Affairs who will be in Sharm el-Sheikh will be consulting on this issue to see what can be done, when it can be done and how it can be done. And in the meantime, there are very high-level contacts in order to see how to address this situation in general.

Hilleary: Many politicians in Lebanon want a "homegrown" solution to the problem. Should Lebanon be left to solve this by itself?

Youssef: We would have hoped for Lebanon to be able to solve its problems by itself. But this has proven to be quite difficult - for years and years. So this is not the first time. We can hope it will be the last. Throughout the recent history of Lebanon there have been efforts by third parties to help Lebanese political forces to address their difficulties, and I think the current situation is no different. I think Lebanon will need the help

1 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

2 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

3 revolves   

v.（使）旋转( revolve的第三人称单数 )；细想

参考例句：

• The earth revolves both round the sun and on its own axis. 地球既公转又自转。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Thus a wheel revolves on its axle. 于是，轮子在轴上旋转。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 slain   

杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词)

参考例句：

• The soldiers slain in the battle were burried that night. 在那天夜晚埋葬了在战斗中牺牲了的战士。
• His boy was dead, slain by the hand of the false Amulius. 他的儿子被奸诈的阿缪利乌斯杀死了。

5 mediate   

vi.调解，斡旋；vt.经调解解决；经斡旋促成

参考例句：

• The state must mediate the struggle for water resources.政府必须通过调解来解决对水资源的争夺。
• They may be able to mediate between parties with different interests.他们也许能在不同利益政党之间进行斡旋。

6 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

7 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。

8 mediation   

n.调解

参考例句：

• The dispute was settled by mediation of the third country. 这场争端通过第三国的斡旋而得以解决。
• The dispute was settled by mediation. 经调解使争端得以解决。

9 mandated   

adj. 委托统治的

参考例句：

• Mandated desegregation of public schools. 命令解除公立学校中的种族隔离
• Britain was mandated to govern the former colony of German East Africa. 英国受权代管德国在东非的前殖民地。

10 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

11 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

12 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

13 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。