2006年VOA标准英语-Somali Islamists Threaten Ethiopian Troops

By Cathy Majtenyi
Nairobi
12 December 2006

The Islamic Courts Union is threatening to attack what it says are 35,000 Ethiopian troops stationed in Somalia, unless the troops leave the country within a week. Cathy Majtenyi reports for VOA from Nairobi that Ethiopia says it only has military advisors¹ in Somalia, not combat troops.

Somali government troops patrol the streets of Baidoa, 12 Dec. 2006

The defense² chief for the Islamic Courts Union, Sheikh Yusuf Mohamed Siad Inda'ade told reporters in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, that Ethiopian troops had better leave Somalia or else face the consequences.

The news editor of Horn Afrik, Mohamed Dhoore, attended the news conference and translates for VOA what the defense chief said.

"There is Ethiopian soldiers in the country - at least 35,000 of Ethiopian troops in Somalia, and they invaded our country," he said. "He said we are telling the international community and all the concerned groups that Ethiopians move or withdraw their troops in the country in seven days, otherwise, will face a war against Ethiopia."

According to Dhoore, the defense chief also urged neighboring Kenya not to allow Ethiopian troops to pass through its territory.

Meanwhile, Ethiopia's Information Ministry³ spokesman Zemedkun Tekle tells VOA he is somewhat mystified by the Islamic Court's announcement.

"The statement that Ethiopia should pull out its troops from Somalia is baseless," he said. "As it has been repeatedly said, we do not have any fighting troops there. So they are speaking on an issue which is not actually there."

Zemedkun says his country has no plans to evacuate⁴ the Ethiopian military advisors who are in Somali training government troops.

"We have been asked to send those advisors by the [Somali] transitional government and whenever they fulfill⁵ their tasks there, they will be pulled out," he said.

The Islamists recently declared a Holy War against Ethiopia over the troops issue.

In response, the Ethiopian parliament voted to give Prime Minister Meles Zenawi the authority to take any legal action necessary to repel⁶ any attacks by the Islamists.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press reports Somalia's Interim⁷ government prime minister says war with the Islamic militants⁸ is "inevitable⁹." Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi told AP elements in the Islamic Courts are against peace and stability in the country. He said thousands of militants have surrounded the interim government base in Baidoa.

Late last week, a spokesman for Somalia's Islamist movement reported heavy fighting between its militias¹⁰ and Ethiopian forces. Following that were two days of heavy clashes between government troops and Islamist fighters around Diinsoor, south of Baidoa.

1 advisors   

n.顾问，劝告者( advisor的名词复数 )；（指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We will consult together with advisors about her education. 我们将一起和专家商议她的教育事宜。 来自互联网

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

4 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

5 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

6 repel   

v.击退，抵制，拒绝，排斥

参考例句：

• A country must have the will to repel any invader.一个国家得有决心击退任何入侵者。
• Particles with similar electric charges repel each other.电荷同性的分子互相排斥。

7 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

8 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

9 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

10 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网