12-25-06

萨达姆倒台以来一万两千多伊警察丧生 (12,000 Iraqi Police Killed Since Saddam's Ouster)

伊拉克内政部长博拉尼星期天在巴格达的一个记者会上说，自从2003年萨达姆政权倒台以来已经有1万2千名警察丧生。星期天，巴格达东北部一个警察局发生一起自杀炸弹爆炸，又有7名警察死亡，还有30名警察在对一个警察局的袭击中受伤。

反叛分子试图破坏美国支持的伊拉克政府，频繁对警察发动袭击。

在其他地区，效忠于激进的什叶派神职人员萨德尔的激进分子和警方在塞马沃市的激战星期天进入第二天。星期六有4名警察在冲突中被打死。

美国军方星期天说，一支伊拉克巡逻队星期五在巴格达解救了16名被绑架的人，其中包括10名儿童。

Iraq's Interior Minister Jawad Bolani says at a news conference Sunday in Baghdad that 12-thousand police officers have been killed since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. Seven more police officers were killed by a suicide bombing Sunday northeast of the Iraqi capital. Thirty other officers were wounded in the attack on a police station.

Iraqi police face frequent attacks from insurgent groups seeking to undermine the U.S.-backed government.

In other developments, militiamen loyal to the radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr fought police for a second day Sunday in Samawa. On Saturday, four police officers were killed in the fighting.

And the U.S. military said Sunday that an Iraqi patrol rescued 16 kidnap victims, including 10 children, in Baghdad on Friday.

教宗圣诞节讲话呼吁和平 (Pope Benedict XVI Calls for Peace in Christmas Message)

教宗本笃十六世在向全世界发表的圣诞节传统讲话中呼吁和平解决冲突，特别是中东、非洲和斯里兰卡的冲突。

罗马天主教的教宗星期一表示，他希望以巴恢复和谈，为中东的持久和平开辟道路，使这个地区所有的人都得到尊重。他还呼吁建立一个民主黎巴嫩以及结束伊拉克的暴力。教宗特别提到斯里兰卡和苏丹达尔富尔地区的冲突。

教宗本笃十六世在讲话中说，21世纪的人类尽管取得了各种技术和现代进步，但仍需要救世主。他谈到，在一个“毫无节制的消费主义”时代，仍旧有人死于饥渴、疾病和贫穷。

Pope Benedict XVI has used his traditional Christmas message to the world to call for a solution to conflicts, especially those in the Middle East, Africa and Sri Lanka.

The leader of the Roman Catholic church said Monday he hopes Israeli-Palestinian peace talks will resume and open the way for lasting peace in the Middle East, with respect for all the region's people. He called for a democratic Lebanon, and an end to violence in Iraq. The pontiff also made specific mention of conflicts in Sri Lanka and in Sudan's Darfur region.

Pope Benedict XVI's message says 21st century mankind is in need of a savior despite all of its technological and modern advances. He noted people still die of hunger, thirst, disease and poverty in an age of "unbridled consumerism."