亚洲－菲律宾警察控制住越狱囚犯，至少21人被杀

 

Philippine Police Retake Prison, At Least

21 Detainees Killed

 

A day-long prison stand-off in the Philippines between Muslim militant¹ detainees and the police ended in bloodshed Tuesday morning, despite hours of negotiations². At least 21 detainees were killed when police stormed the maximum-security facility.

 

Intense gunfire broke out Tuesday morning as police took control of the prison in Manila where a group of detainees led by Abu Sayyaf militants³ have been holed up since trying to escape Monday. The assault came after hours of negotiations for their surrender broke down.

 

Members of the Abu Sayyaf say they are fighting to create a Muslim homeland in the south of the mostly Christian⁴ Philippines. But the group is best known for kidnapping and murdering both Filipinos and foreign tourists.

 

Interior Secretary Angelo Reyes says the deaths were unavoidable.

 

Angelo Reyes: We don't shoot innocent people. They were firing at us and we fired back, it is our duty to assure the safety of our own troops.

 

Philippine President Gloria Arroyo⁵ commended the police for their action.

 

At least three senior Abu Sayyaf members were killed in the attack -- Alhamzer Manatad Limbong alias⁶ "Kosovo", Ghalib Andang known as "Commander Robot" and Nadzmie Satullah or "Commander Global".

 

Negotiators said the detainees were demanding speedy trials and freedom to air their grievances⁸ to authorities and the media. The government initially⁹ agreed to the demands but the detainees never signed the agreement.

 

The detainees have been in control of the facility since Monday morning after one of them snatched a rifle from a prison guard. Two prisoners and three guards died in the ensuing gunfight. Police say the group also had managed to smuggle¹⁰ firearms into the prison before the attempted escape.

 

At the time of the attempted escape, the Camp Bagong Diwa facility in suburban¹¹ Manila was holding more than four hundred prisoners, including 129 Abu Sayyaf suspects.

 

The poor state of Philippine prison system has embarrassed the government's anti-terror campaign. Security is often weak and the poorly paid staff is prone¹² to accepting bribes¹⁴. Some 50 prisoners, including Abu Sayyaf members, escaped from the southern island of Basilan last year. In 2003, a convicted Indonesian bomb expert walked out of his cell in Manila's police headquarters, but was later killed in a shoot out.

 

Heda Bayron, VOA news, Hong Kong.

 

注释：

detainee [7di:tei5ni:] n. 被拘留者，未判决囚犯

intense [in5tens] adj. 强烈的，剧烈的

assault [E5sC:lt] n. 攻击，袭击

surrender [sE5rendE] n. 放弃，投降

unavoidable [5QnE5vCidEbl] adj. 不可避免的

innocent [5inEsnt] adj. 清白的，无辜的

grievance⁷ [5^ri:vEns] n. 冤情，不平

snatch [snAtF] v. 抢夺

smuggle [5smQ^l] v. 走私

firearms [5faiErB:ms] n. 火器，轻武器

Manila [mE5nilE] n. 马尼拉（菲律宾首都）

bribe¹³ [braib] n. 贿赂

1 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

2 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

3 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

4 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

5 arroyo   

n.干涸的河床，小河

参考例句：

• She continued along the path until she came to the arroyo.她沿着小路一直走到小河边。
• They had a picnic by the arroyo.他们在干枯的河床边野餐过。

6 alias   

n.化名；别名；adv.又名

参考例句：

• His real name was Johnson,but he often went by the alias of Smith.他的真名是约翰逊，但是他常常用化名史密斯。
• You can replace this automatically generated alias with a more meaningful one.可用更有意义的名称替换这一自动生成的别名。

7 grievance   

n.怨愤，气恼，委屈

参考例句：

• He will not easily forget his grievance.他不会轻易忘掉他的委屈。
• He had been nursing a grievance against his boss for months.几个月来他对老板一直心怀不满。

8 grievances   

n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚

参考例句：

• The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

10 smuggle   

vt.私运；vi.走私

参考例句：

• Friends managed to smuggle him secretly out of the country.朋友们想方设法将他秘密送出国了。
• She has managed to smuggle out the antiques without getting caught.她成功将古董走私出境，没有被逮捕。

11 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

12 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

13 bribe   

n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通

参考例句：

• He tried to bribe the policeman not to arrest him.他企图贿赂警察不逮捕他。
• He resolutely refused their bribe.他坚决不接受他们的贿赂。

14 bribes   

n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• corrupt officials accepting bribes 接受贿赂的贪官污吏