Kidnapped reporter begs Italy to withdraw
Rory Carroll in Baghdad
Thursday February 17, 2005
The Guardian
1)
An Italian journalist kidnapped in Iraq appeared in a video released yesterday, begging for her life and for foreign troops to leave the country. Giuliana Sgrena, 57, was seen breaking down and weeping in the tape, which insurgents released just hours before a vote in the Italian senate in favour of keeping troops in Iraq.
2)
"I beg you to help me. I beg my family to help me, and all those who stood with me to oppose the war and the occupation," she said. "Everyone must withdraw from Iraq. No one should come to Iraq any longer because all foreigners... are considered enemies."
3)
Sgrena, who is a correspondent for Il Manifesto, a leftwing daily, was abducted on February 4 on a street near Baghdad University where she was conducting interviews.
Yesterday's tape was the first sign that she was alive since her kidnapping.
4)
Her appeal came during another day of bloodshed. The bodies of eight Iraqi civilians who worked at a US base were found in shallow graves, and Iraqi and US service personnel and civilians were attacked in a wave of shootings and bombings.
5)
Italian television interrupted programmes to show the grainy footage of Sgrena. Apparently kneeling before a white background, she clasped her hands and spoke in Italian and French. "I beg you, put an end to the occupation. I beg the Italian government and the Italian people to put pressure on the government to pull out. Please do something for me."
6)
The tape was undated. It was obtained by the Associated Press, which said it bore a label in red Arabic script reading "Mujahideen without borders". Its release seemed to be timed to increase pressure on Silvio Berlusconi's government, which has sent about 3,000 soldiers to Iraq, the fourth largest foreign contingent, after the Americans, British and South Koreans.
7)
The Italian senate voted last night in favour of continued funding for the deployment, despite many Italians' antipathy to the war and the occupation. The centre-right coalition has comfortable majorities in both houses.
8)
Sgrena's colleagues and relatives said they were relieved to have evidence she was alive but concerned that she seemed so desperate. "She was very tired, [it was] a horrific situation," said Gabriele Polo, the editor of Il Manifesto, a strident critic of the war. Her father, Franco Sgrena, said he did not think troops would be withdrawn to save his daughter, the eighth Italian to be taken hostage.
EXERCISE D. Synonyms
Riguarda l'introduzione e i paragrafi 4, 5, 6. Trova i sinonimi delle seguenti parole ed espressioni.
Non scrivere più di una alternativa.
1. request 1. ______
2. people 2. ______
3. killings 3. ______
4. stopped 4. ______
5. present 5. ______
6. talked 6. ______
7. got 7. ______
8. rise 8. ______
9. troops 9. ______
10. biggest 10. ______
EXERCISE E. Summary
Leggi il seguente riassunto di una parte dell’articolo ed inserisci negli spazi vuoti una parola appropriata che rispecchi
il significato del brano. Attenzione la parola (o espressione):
1. non necessariamente devi averla trovata nel testo
2. scrivila nel margine destro
The 1. _____ talks about Giuliana Sgrena, 1. ______
the eighth 2. _____ kidnapped in Iraq. 2. ______
She appears in a video where she desperately 3._____ for help 3. ______
and for the withdrawal of the Italian troops 4_____ Iraq. 4. ______
Her family says to be 5. _____ to see that 5. ______
she is still 6. _____, but to be worried about her conditions. 6. ______
Sgrena’ s appeal came just 7.______7. ______
the Italian 8.______voted for 8 . ______
9._____military occupation in Iraq. 9. ______
Sgrena is a 10. ______for 10. ______the left-wing
the left wing 11.______, Il Manifesto. 11______
She has always 12. ______war in Iraq 12______
Answer-Keys:
Exercise D.
1. appeal
2. civilians
3. shootings
4. interrupted
5. show
6. spoke
7. obtained
8. increase
9. soldiers
10. largest
Exercise E.
1. article/text
2. Italian
3. begs/asks/cries
4. from
5. happy/relieved
6. alive
7. before
8. Senate/government
9. continuing
10. Journalist
11. newspaper
12. opposed