這里是美國之音慢速英語新聞報道。
International efforts to bring an end to the conflict in Syria got off to a bad start on Friday. Talks between the Syrian government and the opposition coalition opened in Geneva, Switzerland. But the two sides refused to hold direct negotiations.
周五,國際社會制止敘利亞沖突的努力開局不利。敘利亞政府與反對派聯(lián)盟之間的談判在瑞士日內(nèi)瓦展開,但雙方拒絕舉行直接談判。
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moualem is leading the government delegation. He announced he would leave if the talks do not get serious by Saturday. At the same time, a leader of the opposition delegation rejected the idea of face-to-face negotiations. Badr Jamous said there will be no direct talks until the government team accepts what is called the Geneva 1 communique. That document is supposed to be the starting point for the talks.
敘利亞外長瓦利德·穆阿利姆(Walid Muallem)率領(lǐng)著政府代表團。他宣布,如果到周六談判還未能認真進行,他將退出這次談判。與此同時,反對派代表團負責人之一的瓦利德·亞穆斯(Badr Jamous)拒絕了面對面談判的意見。他表示在政府代表團接受所謂的日內(nèi)瓦1號公報之前,不會進行直接談判。這份文件被認為是談判的起點。
The Geneva 1 communique calls for the establishment of a temporary government in Syria. The opposition and its allies say that means Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must leave office. The president and his allies disagree.
日內(nèi)瓦1號公報呼吁建立敘利亞臨時政府。反對派及其盟友表示,這意味著敘利亞總統(tǒng)巴沙爾·阿薩德(Bashar al-Assad)必須下臺。阿薩德總統(tǒng)及其盟友不同意這點。
The United Nations and Arab League diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi is taking part in the talks between the government and the opposition. He met with the two sides separately on Friday. The diplomat had predicted that this kind of dispute might delay the talks. But he expressed hope that he could get the two delegations to sit down together. Late Friday, Mr. Brahimi said the talks will continue on Saturday, in his words, "in the same room."
聯(lián)合國和阿拉伯國家聯(lián)盟外交官拉赫達爾·卜拉希米(Lakhdar Brahimi)參與了敘利亞政府和反對派之間的談判。上周五他分別會見了雙方。卜拉希米曾預(yù)言這種爭議可能會拖延談判。但他表示,希望自己能讓雙方代表坐到一起。這個周五,卜拉希米先生表示,談判將在周六繼續(xù)進行,用他的話來說,“在同一個房間”內(nèi)進行。
Observers had predicted such difficulties. On Wednesday, the Syrian foreign minister and opposition leader made conflicting statements at an international conference in nearby Montreux, Switzerland.
觀察人士曾預(yù)言過這些困難。周三,敘利亞外長和反對派領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人在附近的瑞士蒙特勒市的一次國際會議上發(fā)表了互相沖突的宣言。
David Butter is a Syria expert with London's Chatham House. He sees little hope of progress during the current talks.
戴維·巴特爾(David Butter)是倫敦查塔姆研究所的一位敘利亞問題專家。他認為目前談判進展希望不大。
"Both Syrian sides have got very different objectives going into it. And also, it's in a context where you can't really see either party to the internal conflict actually having any sort of decisive advantage, which would be the basis of some sort of bargaining process."
他說,“敘利亞雙方都有非常不同的目標。在這種背景下,任何一方在內(nèi)部沖突上實際上都沒有任何形式的決定性優(yōu)勢,這將是某種討價還價的過程。”
The distrust is making it difficult for the negotiations to move forward.
不信任使得談判難以繼續(xù)向前。
The UN says more than nine million Syrians urgently need aid and many of them cannot be reached because of the fighting. The three-year long Syrian conflict has killed an estimated 100 thousand people.
聯(lián)合國表示,超過9百萬敘利亞人急需援助,而因為戰(zhàn)爭他們中很多人無法獲得。三年之久的敘利亞沖突造成了約10萬人死亡。
For weeks, diplomats have been preparing for the talks in Switzerland. Last Sunday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon invited Iran to take part in the one-day meeting at Montreux. But the Syrian National Coalition, threatened to boycott the talks if they included Iran. The United States said the only way Iran could take part was by supporting the establishment of a temporary government in Syria with full executive powers. This was an idea presented in the "Geneva 1 Communique". But, Iran has refused to say it supports the communique.
幾個星期以來,外交官們一直在準備這次瑞士的談判。上周日,聯(lián)合國秘書長潘基文邀請伊朗參加在蒙特勒舉行的為期一天的會議。但敘利亞全國聯(lián)盟威脅如果包括伊朗就要抵制會談。美國表示,伊朗可能參加會談的唯一途徑是支持建立充分行政權(quán)力的敘利亞臨時政府。這是日內(nèi)瓦一號公報提出的意見。但伊朗拒絕表示自己支持該公報。
That forced Mr. Ban's spokesman to announce that Iran would not be attending the meeting in Montreux, nor the talks in Geneva.
這迫使潘基文先生的發(fā)言人宣布,伊朗將不會出席蒙特勒的會議,也不會參與日內(nèi)瓦的談判。
From VOA Learning English, this is In the News.
International efforts to bring an end to the conflict inSyria got off to a bad start on Friday. Talks between theSyrian government and the opposition coalition openedin Geneva, Switzerland. But the two sides refused tohold direct negotiations.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moualem is leading the government delegation. He announced he would leaveif the talks do not get serious by Saturday. At the sametime, a leader of the opposition delegation rejected theidea of face-to-face negotiations. Badr Jamous saidthere will be no direct talks until the government teamaccepts what is called the Geneva 1 communique. That document is supposed to be the starting point for the talks.
The Geneva 1 communique calls for the establishment of a temporarygovernment in Syria. The opposition and its allies say that means SyrianPresident Bashar al-Assad must leave office. The president and his allies disagree.
The United Nations and Arab League diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi is taking partin the talks between the government and the opposition. He met with the twosides separately on Friday. The diplomat had predicted that this kind ofdispute might delay the talks. But he expressed hope that he could get thetwo delegations to sit down together. Late Friday, Mr. Brahimi said the talkswill continue on Saturday, in his words, “in the same room.”
Observers had predicted such difficulties. On Wednesday, the Syrian foreignminister and opposition leader made conflicting statements at an internationalconference in nearby Montreux, Switzerland.
David Butter is a Syria expert with London’s Chatham House. He sees littlehope of progress during the current talks.
“Both Syrian sides have got very different objectives going into it. And also, it’s in a context where you can’t really see either party to the internal conflictactually having any sort of decisive advantage, which would be the basis ofsome sort of bargaining process.”
The distrust is making it difficult for the negotiations to move forward.
The UN says more than nine million Syrians urgently need aid and many ofthem cannot be reached because of the fighting. The three-year long Syrianconflict has killed an estimated 100 thousand people.
For weeks, diplomats have been preparing for the talks in Switzerland. LastSunday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon invited Iran to take part in theone-day meeting at Montreux. But the Syrian National Coalition, threatened toboycott the talks if they included Iran. The United States said the only way Irancould take part was by supporting the establishment of a temporarygovernment in Syria with full executive powers. This was an idea presented in the “Geneva 1 Communique”. But, Iran has refused to say it supports thecommunique.
That forced Mr. Ban’s spokesman to announce that Iran would not beattending the meeting in Montreux, nor the talks in Geneva.
And that’s In the News from VOA Learning English. I’m Steve Ember. And areminder: For the latest information on this story, go to VOA's main website:www.voanews.com