2006年VOA标准英语-Tensions Rise in Horn of Africa

By Alisha Ryu
Nairobi
20 June 2006

Tensions are rising in the Horn of Africa amid unconfirmed reports that several-hundred Ethiopian troops have crossed the border into Somalia to confront an Islamic group that controls large areas of southern Somalia, including Mogadishu. Analysts¹ say they fear even the perception of Ethiopian meddling² could end up strengthening the Islamists' grip on power and possibly ignite a regional conflict. VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu reports from our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi.

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Militia³ from Islamic Courts Union in Balad, some 40 kilometers north of Mogadishu  
  
Somalia's Union of Islamic Courts alleges⁴ about 300 Ethiopian troops in 50 armored vehicles crossed into southern Somalia early Saturday.

The convoy⁵ reportedly headed toward the town of Baidoa, about 200 kilometers north of Mogadishu, where Somalia's President Abdullahi Yusuf and his fledgling transitional federal government are based.

Ethiopia denies the reports.

But former U.S. ambassador to Ethiopia David Shinn says the Islamists' claim is plausible⁶. Ethiopia, which fought a bitter war with Somalia nearly three decades ago, has made such incursions in the past.

"Whenever Ethiopia has felt that its 1,000-mile long border with Somalia is in any way threatened, it has sent small number of troops across," he said. "It is also true that President Yusuf has a close relationship with Ethiopia. He has been considered by some to receive support from Ethiopia for his transitional federal government."

Ethiopia's military has been on heightened alert since early this month, when the Islamic Courts' militia captured Mogadishu from an alliance of secular⁷ factional leaders.

Another U.S.-based expert, Michael Weinstein, says if the Ethiopian incursion took place, it may be a sign that Addis Ababa is deeply concerned about the possibility of Somalia's growing Islamic movement spilling over the border into Ethiopia.

"My first impulse is to think that this amassing⁸ of Ethiopian troops along the border and this possible incursion is most likely a warning, not to try to spread Islamist influence into Ethiopia, which has a 40 percent Muslim population," he said. "But if I can go on, it all depends on whether Washington is actually backing the Ethiopian move. If that is the case, then it may actually be a move to protect the TFG [transitional federal government] in Baidoa."

Largely secular Ethiopia is a key ally of the United States in its fight against global terrorism and it is alleged⁹ that the two governments worked together to back the self-styled, anti-terror alliance of factional leaders who fought the Union of Islamic Courts.

The United States believes that radical¹⁰ Islamic Courts leaders are harboring al-Qaida operatives and are determined¹¹ to turn Somalia into a training ground for Muslim extremists.

The Islamic courts have the financial backing of influential¹² Somali businessmen, but some Western intelligence officials say outside funding comes from hard-line Islamists in Arab countries.

A militia from Islamic Courts Union stand in front of anti-aircraft gun, in Jowar some 90 kilometers north of Mogadishu   
  
When the anti-terror alliance failed to check the advance of the Islamic militia, analysts say Washington was forced to come up with another strategy for Somalia. The answer was to assemble an international contact group to find ways of supporting the transitional government in Baidoa and identify potential negotiating partners among the moderate leaders in the Union of Islamic Courts.

But David Shinn says Somali President Yusuf and his government do not have the trust of the moderates and their supporters.

"There is a great deal of distrust among the various clans¹⁴ in Somalia," he said. "President Abdullahi Yusuf comes from the Darod clan¹³ and the groups that are in control in Mogadishu are Hawiye, and in particular, a sub-group called Habr Gedir. They have traditionally had difficult relationships."

There is potentially another obstacle to international efforts to negotiate a power-sharing agreement between the Islamic Courts and the transitional government.

Despite threats and numerous public demonstrations¹⁵ against deploying¹⁶ foreign peacekeepers in Somalia, the parliament in Baidoa last week approved the deployment¹⁷ of African Union peacekeepers in the country.

President Yusuf says the government cannot operate without the help of foreign peacekeepers. But many Somalis say they are beginning to believe hard-line clerics, who insist the president and his Ethiopian allies, with the support of the United States, would use the peacekeeping mission as a way to take control in Somalia.

Michael Weinstein says he believes African Union and western diplomats¹⁸, who are backing the peacekeeping proposal, are underestimating a resurgence¹⁹ of Somali nationalism being exploited by hardliners in the Islamic Courts to consolidate²⁰ power.

"Nationalism does not have to be tied to a state," he said. "You can have nationalism is a society that is stateless and anybody, external or internal, who does not recognize this could make very serious mistakes. I think the anti-Ethiopian theme resonates very deeply in Somalia. If the Ethiopians and perhaps Washington - and we do not know exactly what is going on there - discount this nationalism, it could backfire in their faces.

David Shinn agrees that the presence of peacekeepers in Somalia right now would do nothing but anger most Somalis.

"I think the whole concept of sending a peacekeeping force is probably a non-starter," he said. "I just do not think it would be acceptable and it would be too difficult to identify any coalition²¹ of troops that would be acceptable to the majority of Somalis."

Both experts say they believe the best thing the international community can do to ensure that Somalia does not spiral further out of control is to develop a policy of massive aid to the Somali people and stay out of Somalia's internal affairs.

1 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

2 meddling   

v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He denounced all "meddling" attempts to promote a negotiation. 他斥责了一切“干预”促成谈判的企图。 来自辞典例句
• They liked this field because it was never visited by meddling strangers. 她们喜欢这块田野，因为好事的陌生人从来不到那里去。 来自辞典例句

3 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

4 alleges   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The newspaper article alleges that the mayor is corrupt. 报纸上断言该市长腐败。
• Steven was tardy this morning and alleges that his bus was late. 史提芬今天早上迟到的说词是公车误点了。

5 convoy   

vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队

参考例句：

• The convoy was snowed up on the main road.护送队被大雪困在干路上了。
• Warships will accompany the convoy across the Atlantic.战舰将护送该船队过大西洋。

6 plausible   

adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的

参考例句：

• His story sounded plausible.他说的那番话似乎是真实的。
• Her story sounded perfectly plausible.她的说辞听起来言之有理。

7 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

8 amassing   

v.积累，积聚( amass的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The study of taxonomy must necessarily involve the amassing of an encyclopaedic knowledge of plants. 分类学研究一定要积累广博的植物知识。 来自辞典例句
• Build your trophy room while amassing awards and accolades. 建立您的奖杯积累奖项和荣誉。 来自互联网

9 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

10 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

11 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

12 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

13 clan   

n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派

参考例句：

• She ranks as my junior in the clan.她的辈分比我小。
• The Chinese Christians,therefore,practically excommunicate themselves from their own clan.所以，中国的基督徒简直是被逐出了自己的家族了。

14 clans   

宗族( clan的名词复数 )； 氏族； 庞大的家族； 宗派

参考例句：

• There are many clans in European countries. 欧洲国家有很多党派。
• The women were the great power among the clans [gentes], as everywhere else. 妇女在克兰〈氏族〉里，乃至一般在任何地方，都有很大的势力。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源

15 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

16 deploying   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Provides support for developing and deploying distributed, component-based applications. 为开发和部署基于组件的分布式应用程序提供支持。
• Advertisement, publishing, repair, and install-on-demand are all available when deploying your application. 在部署应用程序时提供公布、发布、修复和即需即装功能。

17 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

18 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 resurgence   

n.再起，复活，再现

参考例句：

• A resurgence of his grief swept over Nim.悲痛又涌上了尼姆的心头。
• Police say drugs traffickers are behind the resurgence of violence.警方说毒贩是暴力活动重新抬头的罪魁祸首。

20 consolidate   

v.使加固，使加强；(把...)联为一体，合并

参考例句：

• The two banks will consolidate in July next year. 这两家银行明年7月将合并。
• The government hoped to consolidate ten states to form three new ones.政府希望把十个州合并成三个新的州。

21 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。