（每日一读）2014年7月高考英语考前突破 阅读理解能力 国际时事要闻 伊拉克反政府武装“已夺得核材料”VIP专享

伊拉克反政府武装“已夺得核材料”Iraq has warned the UN that Sunni militants have seized nuclear materials used for scientific research at a university in the city of Mosul.伊拉克向联合国发出警告，逊尼派武装分子已经从摩苏尔一所大学获得了用于科研的核材料。 In a letter seen by Reuters, Iraq's envoy to the UN said nearly 40kg of uranium compounds were seized. The letter appealed for international help to "stave off（避开） the threat of their use by terrorists in Iraq or abroad". US officials reportedly played down the threat, saying the materials were not believed to be enriched uranium. The officials added that it would be difficult for the rebels to use the materials to make weapons. Chemicals seized "Terrorist groups have seized control of nuclear material at the sites that came out of the control of the state," Ambassador Mohamed Ali Alhakim said in the letter. "These nuclear materials, despite the limited amounts mentioned, can enable terrorist groups, with the availability of the required expertise, to use it separately or in combination with other materials in its terrorist acts," he added. Mosul, some 400km north-west of Baghdad, was last month seized by Isis-led (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) insurgents. The letter comes a day after Iraqi officials confirmed that the rebels were in control of a disused chemical weapons factory. Iraq said the Muthanna complex, north-west of the capital Baghdad, housed remnants of rockets filled with sarin and other deadly nerve agents. The UN and US have said the munitions are degraded and the rebels will be unable to make usable chemical arms from them. In recent weeks, Isis insurgents have seized huge swathes of north-western Iraq. The UN has said at least 2,417 Iraqis, including 1,531 civilians, were killed in "acts of violence and terrorism" in June. More than a million people have fled their homes as a result of the fighting.