随笔- 48 文章- 303 评论- 554

VOA20080403

transcript

From the VOA news center and Washington, I am Bill Hazard VOA news.

The head of Zimbabwe’s main opposition party has denied reports his party is in ties with advisors to President Robert Mugabe about the President giving up power. Movement for Democratic Change Morgan Tsvangirai told Harare news conference Tuesday there are no discussions between his party and Mr. Mugabe's aides. He also said his party would not add any deal until full election results are announced. Government officials also denied any discussions are underway. The New York Times newspaper and the Associated Press reported Tuesday the talks were in progress, he said negotiations begun after top aides to Mr. Mugabe concluded, he could not credibly claim victory in the country’s presidential election.

Zimbabwe’s Electoral Commission hasn't yet released any results from the presidential election on Saturday. But a coalition of Zimbabwean civil society groups that monitored the vote says its own tally shows Mr. Tsvangirai leading Mr. Mugabe 49.4 to 41.8 percent. Meanwhile the United States says the delay in releasing results is troubling, the state department urged the Zimbabwean Electoral Commission to produce official figures, especially from the presidential contest as soon as possible. We learn more about that part of our story in this report from VOA’s David Gollust.

The State Department says the lack of even partial results from the Zimbabwean presidential race raises questions about the integrity of the process and it is calling election authorities to produce official figures without further delay. Saturday’s presidential race was considered the most serious challenge to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party in 28 years of increasingly authoritarian rule. In a talk with reporters, State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said the United States at this point has no reason to question projections by local civil society groups that show opposition candidates Morgan Tsvangirai running well ahead of Mr. Mugabe. Casey said it is up to the country Electoral Commission to count every vote and release results quickly. David Gollust VOA news the State Department.

In other news, NATO was holding a summit meeting in the Romanian Capital Bucharest today to focus on the alliance’s enlargement in future involvement in Afghanistan. President Bush is expected to urge fellow NATO members to finish the fight against insurgents in Afghanistan. He will also ask Russia to drop off opposition to a planned US Missile Shield in Europe. NATO will also have to make important decisions on how far to expand its borders. Three Balkan countries Croatia Albanian and Estonian want to join the alliance. Ukraine, Georgia also want to start progress toward membership, a move the United States strongly supports and Russia rejects.

http://bulo.hjenglish.com/group/topic/101452/

posted on 2008-04-03 09:45 笨笨小龙阅读(34) 评论(0) 编辑收藏所属分类: 【VOA听写】