VOA慢速英語:Ethiopia's Meles Goes on Sick Leave

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

這里是美國(guó)之音慢速英語新聞報(bào)道。

This week, Ethiopians were closely following any news about the condition of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. A spokesman said in Addis Ababa on Thursday that the prime minister was taking sick leave on doctors' orders. Spokesman Bereket Simon said Mr. Meles' health was good, but he needed time to recover from an illness caused in part by an overload of work.

本周，埃塞俄比亞人密切關(guān)注著任何有關(guān)總理梅萊斯·澤納維(Meles Zenawi)健康狀況的新聞。發(fā)言人貝雷克特·西蒙(Bereket Simon)周四在亞的斯亞貝巴(該國(guó)首都)稱，總理根據(jù)醫(yī)囑請(qǐng)了病假。貝雷克特表示，梅萊斯的健康狀況良好，但他需要時(shí)間從部分由超負(fù)荷工作導(dǎo)致的疾病中恢復(fù)。

BEREKET SIMON: "Regarding his illness, I think I have told you that he is in good condition. He has got very good treatment for the ailment, and definitely he's in good condition."

貝雷克特：“關(guān)于梅萊斯的病情，我想我已經(jīng)說過他很健康。他的小病得到了很好的治療，毫無疑問他很健康。”

Mr. Bereket did not give any details of what the fifty-seven-year-old prime minister was being treated for or where. But he denied reports on Ethiopian dissident websites that Mr. Meles had brain cancer.

貝雷克特先生沒有給出這位57歲總理治療情況的任何細(xì)節(jié)。但他否認(rèn)了埃塞爾比亞持不同意見的網(wǎng)站上稱梅萊斯先生患有腦癌的報(bào)道。

The spokesman said the government was operating as normal and that Mr. Meles was still in power.

這位發(fā)言人表示，政府運(yùn)作一如往常，梅萊斯先生仍然掌權(quán)。

BEREKET SIMON: "The only thing that I can say is, although he's in charge, he has to take some rest -- a week, ten days, five days, whatever. A leave of absence does not mean there's nobody in charge."

貝雷克特：“唯一我可以說的是，雖然由他執(zhí)政，他需要休息十天八天，但他休病假不意味著就沒人負(fù)責(zé)了。”

His comments followed media reports that the Ethiopian leader was in critical condition at a hospital in Belgium.

在貝雷克特發(fā)表評(píng)論之前，媒體報(bào)道梅萊斯在比利時(shí)一家醫(yī)院病危。

David Shinn, formerly American ambassador to Ethiopia, told VOA that he had no information about the prime minister's health. But he said the spokesman's comments suggested a serious health issue.

前美國(guó)駐埃塞爾比亞大使戴維·希恩(David Shinn)對(duì)美國(guó)之音表示，他對(duì)梅萊斯總理的健康狀況一無所知。但他表示，發(fā)言人貝雷克特的說辭表明梅萊斯健康問題很嚴(yán)重。

DAVID SHINN: "You wouldn't make a statement like that -- that is so open-ended -- unless the problem is significant."

希恩：“你不會(huì)做這種模凌兩可的聲明，除非問題很明顯。”

He also described Mr. Meles as the kind of leader who plans ahead.

他還稱梅萊斯是一位會(huì)提前規(guī)劃的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人。

DAVID SHINN: "Whatever his health problem is, he probably has known about it for some time. This was not some sort of a surprise issue, at least, that would be my guess. And if I am correct in that assumption then I would be willing to bet very good money that he has been planning for some way to deal with this issue in order to ensure some kind of reasonable succession of government in Ethiopia."

希恩：“不管他的健康問題如何，他可能早就已經(jīng)察覺。這不是某種意外的問題，至少我這么認(rèn)為。如果我的假設(shè)是正確的，那么我打賭，他一直計(jì)劃著如何處理這個(gè)問題，以確保埃塞爾比亞政府的某種合理繼承。”

Mr. Meles became president after he led rebels to power in nineteen ninety-one, overthrowing Ethiopia's former military government. He was elected prime minister in nineteen ninety-five.

1991年，梅萊斯先生率領(lǐng)叛軍推翻了埃塞爾比亞前軍政府，隨后就任總統(tǒng)。1995年他當(dāng)選總理。

Mr. Meles has served as the African Union's spokesman on climate change. He has been praised for helping lift Ethiopia out of poverty after civil war. But he has been criticized for silencing all forms of dissent.

梅萊斯先生曾擔(dān)任非盟關(guān)于氣候變化的發(fā)言人。他因?yàn)閹椭Ｈ肀葋喸趦?nèi)戰(zhàn)后擺脫貧困，一直備受稱贊。但也因?yàn)閴褐飘愖h而一直受到批評(píng)。

Ethiopia has been seen as a close American ally in its support of anti-terrorism efforts in Somalia and East Africa. But the State Department has been critical of the government's human rights record and use of new anti-terrorism laws to suppress free speech. American officials have also criticized the way in which the government held recent national elections.

埃塞爾比亞因?yàn)樵谒黢R里和東非反恐措施上的支持被視為美國(guó)的親密盟友。但美國(guó)國(guó)務(wù)院一直對(duì)埃塞爾比亞的人權(quán)記錄以及使用新反恐法壓制言論自由頗有微辭。美國(guó)官員還批評(píng)了埃塞俄比亞政府最近舉行的全國(guó)大選。

Mr. Meles was last seen in public more than two weeks ago. He did not attend a meeting of AU leaders in the Ethiopian capital last Saturday and Sunday. At that meeting, South Africa's home affairs minister became the first woman to lead the African Union Commission.

梅萊斯先生最后一次在公開場(chǎng)合露面是兩個(gè)多星期以前。他沒有出席上周六和周日在埃塞俄比亞首都舉行的非盟領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人會(huì)議。在那次會(huì)議上，南非內(nèi)政部長(zhǎng)成為首位領(lǐng)導(dǎo)非盟委員會(huì)的女性。

NKOSOZANA DLAMINI-ZUMA: "I, Nkosozana Dlamini-Zuma, solemnly undertake to exercise in all loyalty, discretion and conscience, the function and responsibility entrusted to me as chairperson of the Commission of the African Union."

德拉米尼·祖馬：“我，德拉米尼·祖馬，莊嚴(yán)承諾，忠實(shí)履行非盟委員會(huì)主席的職責(zé)。”

Ms. Dlamini-Zuma is the former wife of South African President Jacob Zuma. She was elected Sunday on the fourth ballot, defeating Chairman Jean Ping of Gabon.

德拉米尼·祖馬是南非總統(tǒng)雅各布·祖馬的前妻。她在周日的第四輪投票中，擊敗了來自加蓬的現(xiàn)任主席讓·平(成為非盟委員會(huì)新任主席)。