Riyadh Bombing Attacks

 

Broadcast: May 17, 2003
By Cynthia Kirk

This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program, In the News.
At least thirty-four people were killed in three bombing attacks in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Monday. More than two-hundred people were injured in the attacks. The bombers² drove vehicles carrying explosives1 into compounds home to Americans and other foreigners.
The dead included eight Americans. American officials warned of the possibility of more attacks to come, including in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, said fifteen Saudis carried out the bombings Monday. Nine of the attackers also died. American intelligence officials said it appeared to be the work of al-Qaeda terrorists.
Crown Prince Abdullah said the attackers have no "Islamic or human values." President Bush blamed what he called "killers³ whose only faith is hatred⁴."
The attacks happened shortly before American Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived in Saudi Arabia.
State Department officials urged Americans to leave the country. Other Westerners also prepared to leave. Thirty-five-thousand Americans were among the foreign workers in Saudi Arabia.
Relations with Saudi Arabia were damaged by the terrorist attacks in the United States on September eleventh, two-thousand-one. Fifteen of the nineteen hijackers involved in the September eleventh attacks were Saudi. Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin¹ Laden⁵ also was born in Saudi Arabia.
Bush administration officials have said Saudi Arabia has done little to stop terrorism. But after Monday's bombings there were promises of cooperation.
Federal officials from the United States are in Saudi Arabia to help investigate the bombings. But the United States and Saudi Arabia have clashed over past terror investigations⁶. That happened after a nineteen-ninety-six attack on an American military housing compound. American officials criticized Saudi restrictions⁷ on their efforts to gather evidence.
Some officials say the relationship between Saudi police and American investigators⁸ has since gotten better. Saudi officials, for example, have dealt openly with accusations⁹ that they did not increase security enough before the attacks. American intelligence officials had feared an attack was coming. The American ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Robert Jordan, said the Saudis did not act on American requests to increase security around the Riyadh compounds.
Saudi officials denied that they ignored the requests. But they agreed there were security problems and promised to improve security measures.
Earlier this month, the United States announced plans to withdraw most of the five-thousand troops based in Saudi Arabia by August. Their presence on land holy to Muslims increased anti-American feelings among Arabs.
This VOA Special English program, In the News, was written by Cynthia Kirk. This is Steve Ember.

1. explosive [Iks5plEusIv] n. 爆炸物, 炸药

1 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

2 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

4 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

5 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

6 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

7 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

8 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。