VOA慢速英语--In Ivory Coast, the Great Cost of Conflict

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.
Ivory Coast gained independence from France in nineteen sixty. It grew into one of the wealthiest countries in West Africa through cocoa exports and foreign investments.
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But its latest political crisis has come at great cost. The United Nations says several hundred people have been killed since early December. As many as one million have fled their homes, mostly in Abidjan, the main city. Some have fled west to Liberia or east to Ghana.
On Friday, the UN human rights office expressed concern about unconfirmed reports of kidnapping and abuse of civilians¹ by fighters loyal to Alassane Ouattara. He is the internationally recognized winner of the presidential election last year. But President Laurent Gbagbo refuses to accept the results.
A UN human rights spokesman, Rupert Colville, said most of the reports were from western Ivory Coast.
Unidentified troops in the city of Abidjan Friday
RUPERT COLVILLE: "Initially², most of the abuses, if not all the abuses, were by the forces in support of Laurent Gbagbo, former president. But recently there's been an increase of retaliatory³ attacks by people on the other side, including a slightly mysterious group called the Invisible Commandos who've been operating against Gbagbo."
The International Committee of the Red Cross said civilians trapped by the fighting have been unable to get food, water or medicine. The Red Cross has appealed for an additional sixteen million dollars to help people entering Liberia.
Fighters loyal to Mr. Ouattara moved into Abidjan on Thursday after a quick offensive through Ivory Coast. Pro-Gbagbo forces surrendered the airport to the nearly ten thousand United Nations peacekeeping troops in the country.
Mr. Ouattara called for the support of all government troops.
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The country is calling you, he said.
Years ago, Alassane Ouattara lived and studied in the United States. He received a doctorate⁴ in economics at the University of Pennsylvania in the early nineteen seventies. He worked for the International Monetary⁵ Fund and the Central Bank of West African States.
Mr. Ouattara, who is Muslim, was born in central Ivory Coast in nineteen forty-two. He served as prime minister in the early nineteen nineties. But questions about his citizenship⁶ kept him out of the presidential election in two thousand.
Laurent Gbagbo was born to a Catholic family in the south in nineteen forty-five. He attended Paris' Sorbonne University and later spent time in exile in the French capital. In nineteen seventy-one, he was arrested in Ivory Coast for "subversive⁷ teaching." He continued his activism after returning in nineteen eighty-eight.
The former history professor came to power in two thousand as a supporter of full democracy. But hopes for a new kind of African leadership fell as elections were repeatedly postponed⁸.
Mr. Gbagbo himself became president after a disputed election and political unrest. But after two years he faced a rebellion in the north. A peace treaty in two thousand seven led to the presidential election last year. Mr. Gbagbo won the first vote. But he refused to accept defeat in a runoff election.
And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.

1 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

2 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

3 retaliatory   

adj.报复的

参考例句：

• The process can take years before the WTO approves retaliatory action. 在WTO通过此行动之前，这个程序恐怕要等上一阵子了。 来自互联网
• Retaliatory tariffs on China are tantamount to taxing ourselves as a punishment. 将惩罚性关税强加于中国相当于对我们自己实施课税惩罚。 来自互联网

4 doctorate   

n.(大学授予的)博士学位

参考例句：

• He hasn't enough credits to get his doctorate.他的学分不够取得博士学位。
• Where did she do her doctorate?她在哪里攻读博士？

5 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

6 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

7 subversive   

adj.颠覆性的，破坏性的；n.破坏份子，危险份子

参考例句：

• She was seen as a potentially subversive within the party.她被看成党内潜在的颠覆分子。
• The police is investigating subversive group in the student organization.警方正调查学生组织中的搞颠覆阴谋的集团。

8 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。