2006年VOA标准英语-Blasts Rock Baghdad; Dozens Dead and Injured

（单词翻译）

By Margaret Besheer
Irbil, Iraq
27 July 2006
 
A car bomb and mortar¹ attack on an upscale Baghdad neighborhood has killed at least 31 people and wounded more than 115 others.  The latest violence comes as the trial of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was adjourned² until October, when the court will decide whether he is guilty of ordering the executions of 148 Shiite men.

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Women cross through a walkway littered with debris³ and wreckage⁴ after a rocket attack on a building   
  
The attack in the mostly Shiite Karrada district of Baghdad came at mid-morning, causing many casualties and severely⁵ damaging shops and buildings.

Interior Ministry⁶ officials fear the death toll⁷ could rise.  One building collapsed⁸ in the attack and more casualties could be trapped in the rubble⁹.

The car bomb reportedly exploded near a gasoline station, and the flames and debris blanketed the normally busy commercial district.

 
Geroge Bush and Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki, left, at White House, July 25, 2006
  
Thursday's attack comes as Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki heads home from Washington, where he held talks with President Bush and addressed a joint¹⁰ meeting of the U.S. Congress.

During the visit, the leaders approved plans to deploy¹¹ more U.S. and Iraqi troops to the capital city to curb¹² sectarian violence that has been escalating¹³ since an attack on a Shiite shrine¹⁴ in February.
 

Saddam Hussein (file photo)  
  
Elsewhere in Baghdad, the trial of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was adjourned until October 16.  Saddam and seven co-defendants are on trial for ordering the killings¹⁶ of 148 Shiite men from the town of Dujail in 1982. The men where executed after a failed assassination¹⁷ attempt on Saddam.

Saddam and two of his co-defendants face death by hanging if they are found guilty.

Saddam was not present for Thursdays proceedings¹⁸, as his court-appointed lawyer read his closing statement during Wednesday's session.

On Wednesday, Saddam asked the Tribunal if he is sentenced to death, to execute him by a firing squad¹⁹, instead of hanging him, as he is a soldier, and not like a petty criminal.

But two co-defendants were present Thursday and both had terse²⁰ exchanges with the judge.

Former Iraqi Vice²¹ President Taha Yassin Ramadan told the judge, "I am innocent. I know my sentence has been decided²² and I accept the fate God has decided for me."  The judge interrupted him, telling him, his sentence would be passed after all the legal proceedings have been completed. 

Also present was defendant¹⁵ Awad al-Bandar, a revolutionary court judge who sentenced the Shiites to death. After a testy²³ exchange with the judge, Al-Bandar tried to leave the courtroom and had to be restrained by guards.