也門基地組織威脅周末處決美國記者

也門基地組織威脅周末處決美國記者

SANAA, Yemen — Seething over an attempt last month by United States commandos to free an American hostage, Al Qaeda’s Yemeni affiliate has threatened to kill him by the end of the week and warned the Obama administration against further “foolish action,” according to a video posted on YouTube.

也門薩那——上個月，美國突擊隊試圖解救一名美國人質(zhì)，此舉讓基地組織(Al Qaeda)的也門分支十分憤怒。根據(jù)發(fā)布在YouTube上的一則視頻，該機(jī)構(gòu)威脅要在本周末殺害這名人質(zhì)，并警告奧巴馬政府不要再做出任何“愚蠢舉動”。

The journalist, Luke Somers, who appears in the video posted late Wednesday, has been missing since September 2013, when he was snatched off a street in Sana, the Yemeni capital.

這名人質(zhì)叫做盧克·薩默斯(Luke Somers)，是一位新聞工作者。他出現(xiàn)在了這則周三夜里發(fā)布的視頻中。2013年9月，他在也門首都薩那的街頭突然被人抓走，隨后一直下落不明。

Mr. Somers, speaking to the camera, appears composed and healthy, wearing a purple shirt and glasses.

面對攝像機(jī)說話的薩默斯看起來鎮(zhèn)定而健康，他穿著一件紫色上衣，戴著眼鏡。

“I’m looking for any help that can get me out of this situation,” he said. “I’m certain that my life is in danger. So as I sit here now, I ask if there’s anything that can be done, please let it be done.”

“我請求大家的幫助，只要能讓我脫離這種處境就行，”他說。“我確信我的生命正處于危險之中。所以，我現(xiàn)在坐在這里發(fā)出請求，如果有什么事情可以做，請把它付諸實(shí)施。”

His family, breaking its silence about the abduction for the first time, responded to the video by posting its own on Thursday, imploring Mr. Somers’s captors to release him, thanking them for treating him well and insisting that the family had no prior knowledge of the raid.

他的家人周四首次就其遭綁架一事打破沉默，在網(wǎng)上發(fā)布視頻作了回應(yīng)。他們懇求扣押薩默斯的人釋放他，并感謝他們對薩默斯的善待，而且堅稱自己事前并不知道這次救援行動。

The video of Mr. Somers amounted to an unusually public and hard-line ultimatum from the affiliate, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, according to analysts who study the group.

綁匪所在的分支叫做阿拉伯半島基地組織(Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula)。研究該組織的分析人士表示，薩默斯的這則視頻，是來自他們的一次罕見的公開而強(qiáng)硬的最后通牒。

The three-day deadline was among the shortest to have appeared in any Qaeda videos in recent years. And it was a rare instance of the Yemeni branch formally releasing a video threatening a Western hostage.

為期三天的最后時限，堪稱近年來基地組織的視頻中所出現(xiàn)的最短期限之一。這個位于也門的分支此前也很少正式發(fā)布威脅西方人質(zhì)的視頻。

Nasr bin Ali al-Ansi, a leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula who appears in the video, was vague about the group’s conditions for the hostage’s release, saying only that they were “well known.”

阿拉伯半島基地組織的頭目之一納斯?fàn)?middot;本·阿里·安西(Nasr bin Ali al-Ansi)也出現(xiàn)在了視頻當(dāng)中。他并未明確表述釋放這名人質(zhì)的條件，只是說這些條件“眾所周知”。

At the same time, he suggested that the ultimatum was a reaction to the Nov. 25 rescue attempt, which left seven Qaeda members dead. “We warn Obama and the American government of the consequences of proceeding with any other foolish action,” he said in the video.

同時，他還暗示，這次最后通牒是對11月25日的營救行動的回應(yīng)。此次行動共導(dǎo)致七名基地組織成員死亡。“我們警告奧巴馬和美國政府，繼續(xù)進(jìn)行任何愚蠢舉動將會帶來嚴(yán)重后果，”他在視頻中說。

Al Qaeda has largely turned away from executing hostages over the past five years, releasing the majority for ransom. An investigation this year by The New York Times found that Al Qaeda and its direct affiliates had taken in at least $125 million in revenue from kidnappings since 2008.

過去五年里，基地組織已基本不再處決人質(zhì)，而是釋放了其中大部分人，以換取贖金?！都~約時報》今年的一篇調(diào)查性報道發(fā)現(xiàn)，自2008年以來，基地組織及其直接分支已經(jīng)因?yàn)榻壖塬@得了至少1.25億美元(約合7.7億元人民幣)的收益。

Payments were made almost exclusively by European governments. Mr. Somers was born in Britain, but said in the video that he had lived most of his life in the United States and is an American citizen. Britain and the United States do not pay ransoms.

這些錢幾乎都是由歐洲國家的政府支付的。薩默斯出生在英國，但他在視頻中表示，自己大部分時間生活在美國，目前是美國公民。英美兩國的政策均為不繳納贖金。

Al Qaeda’s focus on collecting ransoms contrasts sharply with the more brutal practices of the Islamic State, the extremist group fighting in Iraq and Syria, also known as ISIS or ISIL. The Islamic State has killed hundreds of Iraqi and Syrian civilians and soldiers, publicizing the deaths in sophisticated propaganda videos. It also has killed six of the 23 Western hostages held alongside the slain journalist James Foley — and is threatening to kill more.

基地組織對贖金的偏好與伊斯蘭國(Islamic State)的殘暴行徑形成了巨大反差。后者在伊拉克及敘利亞境內(nèi)活動，也被稱為ISIS或ISIL。伊斯蘭國殺害了數(shù)以百計的伊拉克和敘利亞平民和軍人，并發(fā)布精心制作的宣傳視頻，公布處死他們的畫面。在與遇害記者詹姆斯·弗利(James Foley)一同遭到扣押的23名西方人質(zhì)中，已有六人被處死，還有更多人質(zhì)受到該組織的死亡威脅。

In a possible sign that Al Qaeda was adopting a more radical stance — and possibly feeling pressure from rival jihadist groups like the Islamic State — the body of Rasheed al-Habishi, a Yemeni hostage believed to have been held alongside Mr. Somers, was discovered on Thursday, according to his family.

據(jù)也門人質(zhì)拉希德·哈貝什(Rasheed al-Habishi)的家人透露，據(jù)信與薩默斯一同被綁架的哈貝什的尸體于周四被發(fā)現(xiàn)。這可能說明，基地組織開始采取更加激進(jìn)的態(tài)度——或許是因?yàn)樗麄兏惺艿搅藖碜砸了固m國等與其競爭的其他圣戰(zhàn)組織的壓力。

The rescue effort, a joint raid by United States Special Operations commandos and Yemeni counterterrorism troops, focused on a cave in a remote area of Hadhramaut Province, near the border with Saudi Arabia. Areas of the province, Yemen’s largest, are beyond the government’s control, and it has been hit repeatedly by American drones armed with missiles.

此前的救援行動由美國陸軍特種部隊的突擊隊與也門反恐部隊聯(lián)手展開。他們對位于哈德拉毛省偏遠(yuǎn)地區(qū)的一處洞穴進(jìn)行了突襲。該省位于也門與沙特阿拉伯的邊界線附近，是也門面積最大的省，其中有多片區(qū)域不處于政府控制之下，并反復(fù)遭到美國無人機(jī)的導(dǎo)彈襲擊。

When the rescuers arrived, surprising the kidnappers, Mr. Somers was not among a group of eight hostages whom the commandos freed. Yemeni military officials said that Mr. Somers and several other hostages may have been moved two days before the rescue attempt, citing the testimony of one of the freed hostages.

救援人員到達(dá)時，綁匪措手不及。突擊隊解救了八名人質(zhì)，但薩默斯不在其中。也門軍隊官員表示，根據(jù)一名獲救人質(zhì)的證詞，薩默斯和其他幾名人質(zhì)可能在救援行動開始的兩天前被轉(zhuǎn)移到了其他地方。

Mr. Somers was believed to be among a group that included citizens of Britain, South Africa and Turkey, as well as Mr. Habishi, who worked as an employee in a state-run electricity company, according to his family.

據(jù)信，薩默斯與一組人質(zhì)待在一起，其中包括英國人、南非人、土耳其人，以及哈貝什。據(jù)哈貝什的家人透露，他是一家國有電力公司的員工。

The White House said it was aware of the video of Mr. Somers, and gave its first official account of the United States-Yemeni mission to rescue him last month.

白宮表示已經(jīng)注意到薩默斯的視頻，并首次提供了有關(guān)上個月美國與也門聯(lián)手解救薩默斯的行動的官方說法。