2006年VOA标准英语-Assassination Prompts Renewed Calls for Interna

（单词翻译）

By Peter Heinlein
21 November 2006

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations says the killing¹ of Lebanese minister Pierre Gemayel underscores the need for establishing an international tribunal for Lebanon.

 
Pierre Gemayel 
The assassination² of Pierre Gemayel overshadowed a previously³ scheduled Security Council meeting on the Middle East.

It also gave new urgency to negotiations⁴ that have been dragging on for days on how to endorse⁵ a special tribunal to try suspects in the February 2005 killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

As he entered the Council chamber⁶, Washington's U.N. Ambassador John Bolton called Pierre Gemayel's murder a "terrorist assassination."

He said it highlights the need for immediate⁷ action to create an international tribunal for Lebanon.

"We have to support the democratic forces in Lebanon against this politically motivated assassination," he said. "This is not a way to change a government. It shows why we need to establish a tribunal as soon as possible."

Bolton bristled⁸ at a reporter's suggestion that some Council members might favor postponing⁹ creation of the tribunal because of fears that trying suspects might fuel instability in the region.

 
John Bolton 
He said, "How incredibly wrong that would be. How incredibly wrong that would be. Instability. They're killing people in Lebanon."

"They're assassinating¹⁰ political leaders. Not the time to seek justice? There may be those on the Security Council who say it. Let them step forward and say it," he added.

Bolton noted¹¹ that investigators¹² have developed links between the Hariri assassination and high-ranking Syrian officials, and suggested Syria could be involved in the Gemayel murder and other political killings¹³ in Lebanon.

Syria has staunchly denied involvement in all of the assassinations¹⁴. Syria's U.N. ambassador, Bashar al-Jaafari, Tuesday noted that his government immediately issued a statement condemning¹⁵ Gemayel's killing.

He said, "Syria had nothing to do this. Syria is affected¹⁶ directly or indirectly¹⁷ by such horrible crimes committed and perpetrated on the Lebanese scene."

"We have been working very seriously with those who have good faith toward encouraging the Lebanese to sit together and find ... a solution to all their problems around the table of national reconciliation," he continued.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan also condemned¹⁸ what he called the "cold-blooded-murder of Pierre Gemayel," as did a long list of diplomats¹⁹ around the Security Council table.

In a report to the Council last week, Mr. Annan called for agreement between the world body and the Lebanese government to create a special court outside Lebanon to try suspects in the Hariri assassination.

The tribunal would have more international than Lebanese judges and an international prosecutor²⁰. The secretary-general said having a non-Lebanese majority on the tribunal would help to ensure its independence.