2006年VOA标准英语-Iraqis Prepare for Reconciliation Conference

By Margaret Besheer
Baghdad
15 December 2006

On Saturday, Iraqi political figures, parties and other groups will gather in Baghdad to try to find a way to stop the sectarian violence that in recent months has been killing¹ on average nearly 100 Iraqis each day. From Baghdad, VOA's Margaret Besheer has more.

 
An Iraqi soldier secures the area around the wreckage² of a car bomb still in flames, in central Baghdad, October 31, 2006
Last month, a United Nations report said more than 7,000 Iraqis were killed during September and October.

It is this spiraling violence -- which is driven by religious differences -- that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is trying to find a way to stop at Saturday's national reconciliation³ conference.

Two earlier reconciliation conferences were postponed⁴, but Mahmoud Othman, an independent Kurdish member of Iraq's parliament, tells VOA that the meeting looks set to happen, but it is unclear exactly who will participate.

"If people from outside the political process participate, let's say Baathists, this will be more important, because we are making reconciliation with these people," he said.

"But if it is only limited to the people in the political process, still it will be useful, because inside the political process, you have differences that have to be solved: Sunnis on one side, Shi'ites on one side," he added.

He says, until now, no list of participants or agenda has been publicized. But it is expected that the 24-point reconciliation plan that Mr. Maliki announced last June will form the framework for the discussions.

That plan includes a general amnesty for insurgents⁵, who renounce⁶ violence and who have not attacked American soldiers or Iraqis, as well as a promise to crack down on militias⁷.

But just getting all the participants to the table to begin a dialogue is by itself a difficult task.

 
Moqtada al-Sadr (Apr 2004)
Radical⁸ cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose support has helped Prime Minister Maliki stay in power, has said his representatives' participation⁹ is conditional¹⁰ on a timetable for withdrawal¹¹ of U.S. troops from Iraq.

On Friday, he went a step further, calling for the American and British Embassies to be evicted¹² from Iraq.

Another prominent figure, Adnan al-Dulaimi, the head of the largest Sunni Arab party, attended a conference in Istanbul, Turkey, on Thursday, where he appealed to Sunnis from neighboring countries to save Iraq's Sunni minority from the governing Shi'ites.

All of this, Othman says, makes for a difficult environment for talks of reconciliation.

He said, "But if your mentality¹³ does not change, if you do not go against militias, if you do not go against terrorists, if you do not really have the will to have a Sunni-Shi'ite solution, I do not think a conference could do much."

There appears to be only one point that unites all Iraqis today, and that is football. On Friday afternoon, Shi'ites, Sunnis and Kurds all rooted for the Iraqi national football team to beat Qatar in the finals of the Asia Cup. But their dreams were dashed in a one-zero victory for Qatar.

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

3 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

4 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

5 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

6 renounce   

v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系

参考例句：

• She decided to renounce the world and enter a convent.她决定弃绝尘世去当修女。
• It was painful for him to renounce his son.宣布与儿子脱离关系对他来说是很痛苦的。

7 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

8 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

9 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

10 conditional   

adj.条件的，带有条件的

参考例句：

• My agreement is conditional on your help.你肯帮助我才同意。
• There are two forms of most-favored-nation treatment:conditional and unconditional.最惠国待遇有两种形式:有条件的和无条件的。

11 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

12 evicted   

v.（依法从房屋里或土地上）驱逐，赶出( evict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• They had evicted their tenants for non-payment of rent. 他们赶走了未交房租的房客。

13 mentality   

n.心理，思想，脑力

参考例句：

• He has many years'experience of the criminal mentality.他研究犯罪心理有多年经验。
• Running a business requires a very different mentality from being a salaried employee.经营企业所要求具备的心态和上班族的心态截然不同。