VOA标准英语2014--美国报告称基地组织分支的威胁增强

 

US Report: Al-Qaida Affiliates¹ Pose Growing Threat 美国报告称基地组织分支的威胁增强

WASHINGTON — The United States says a growing number of al-Qaida affiliates and other terrorist groups in the Middle East and Africa pose a serious threat to U.S. interests and allies. The warning comes as part of the State Department's annual report on global terrorism.

Last September's deadly attack on a Nairobi shopping mall is an indication, according to the State Department, that al-Qaida's central leadership is weakening as affiliated² or like-minded terrorist groups gain strength.  In this case al-Shabab, the Somali group that claimed responsibility for the attack.  

The State Department's 2013 terrorism report says top leaders, such as Ayman al-Zawahiri, are losing their grip on many al-Qaida affiliates.

And those affiliates are becoming more aggressive, according to the State Department's Coordinator³ for Counterterrorism, Tina Kaidanow.

"The evidence that we've seen has shown that they are unable to do what they had done in the past, in terms of directing the activity of their affiliates globally. So I think that, you know, through any measure, what that means is, degrading and disrupting has been successful.  But that said, there's still a core al-Qaida element that we need to watch out for," said Kaidanow.

The reports focuses largely on the threat in the Middle East and Africa, including groups such as al-Shabab and Boko Haram in Nigeria.

"The past several years have seen the emergence⁴ of a more aggressive set of AQ affiliates and like-minded groups, most notably⁵ in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, northwest Africa and Somalia," said Kaidanow.

The ongoing⁶ conflict in Syria is a key area of long-term concern, she said, because the violence there is attracting extremists from other parts of the world.

"To the extent that Syria continues to become a political issue, and the political conflict continues in Syria, it will attract individuals who then may be radicalized when they go to Syria, and then, at some point, potentially, return home. They could come here as well. That's certainly a possibility," said Kaidanow.

The State Department said Iran continued to be a major state sponsor of terrorism last year. The report accuses Tehran of backing Hezbollah, increasing its presence in Africa and smuggling⁷ arms to Syria, Yemen and Bahrain.

1 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。

2 affiliated   

adj. 附属的, 有关连的

参考例句：

• The hospital is affiliated with the local university. 这家医院附属于当地大学。
• All affiliated members can vote. 所有隶属成员都有投票权。

3 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

4 emergence   

n.浮现，显现，出现，（植物）突出体

参考例句：

• The last decade saw the emergence of a dynamic economy.最近10年见证了经济增长的姿态。
• Language emerges and develops with the emergence and development of society.语言是随着社会的产生而产生，随着社会的发展而发展的。

5 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

6 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

7 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。