VOA慢速英语2013 Egyptians Protest Military Ouster of President

 

Egyptians Protest Military Ouster of President

From VOA Learning English, this is In the News.

In Egypt, Islamist parties held protests Friday against the military ouster of President Mohamed Morsi and the arrest of leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood¹. The protests followed afternoon prayers across the country. Mr. Morsi was forced out Wednesday following huge protests by those opposed to his Islamist policies.

Military leaders replaced him with top judge Adly Mansour. The temporary president was sworn in Thursday. The Muslim Brotherhood quickly denounced the move. Mr. Mansour called for the Muslim Brotherhood to continue to take part in the political process.

Islam Abdel-Rahman is on the foreign affairs committee of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party. He told VOA that his group will not take part in any political process led by Egypt’s military. Mr. Abdel-Rahman said the Brotherhood still considers Mr. Morsi the rightful president of Egypt. He says his group is calling for peaceful protests against his ouster.

“We fully² believe in peaceful means of defying this military coup³. Actually, we don't believe in taking [up] arms or something like this. We still believe that this country can be managed by peaceful political means.”

The military ouster of Egypt’s first democratically elected president came one year after he took office. The military also suspended the constitution, saying the action was necessary because of the risk of a general rebellion.

At least three supporters of the ousted⁴ president were killed by gunfire Friday. The deaths came as a crowd tried to march to the military housing where the ousted president is believed to be held. A spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood Freedom and Justice Party said soldiers shot and killed the protesters. Egyptian soldiers denied that they had used deadly weapons against the protesters.

Also Friday, witnesses say soldiers opened fire on pro-Morsi protesters who were trying to march on the defense⁵ ministry⁶ headquarters.                                                                                                                                                                  

Also in Cairo, thousands of Morsi supporters gathered in the Nasr City neighborhood. They denounced the military intervention⁷ and demanded that Egypt’s first democratically elected president be returned to power.

Early Friday, security officials said people they called “Islamist gunmen” attacked military and police checkpoints in the northern Sinai area. The attacks killed an Egyptian soldier and wounded at least two others.

Egypt's military declared emergency conditions in Suez and Sinai ahead of the planned Islamist protests.

The military and Egypt's former opposition⁸ groups have called for understanding and compromise as the military moves to restore democratic, civilian⁹ rule in Egypt. The military is also denying any campaign against the Muslim Brotherhood.                   

But as of early Friday, prosecutors¹⁰ had ordered the arrest of 300 of the group's members and detained some of its top leaders. The military has suspended the country's Islamist-backed constitution and dissolved the parliament.

And that’s In the News from VOA Learning English, written by Onka Dekker. I’m Steve Ember. 

1 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

2 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

3 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

4 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

5 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

6 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

7 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

8 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

9 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

10 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。