2007年VOA标准英语-Somali Government Calls for Peacekeepers

By Alisha Ryu
Nairobi
13 February 2007

Uganda's parliament on Tuesday approved sending 1,500 peacekeepers to Somalia. Faced with a worsening security situation in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, the country's prime minister says a robust¹ peacekeeping force is urgently to stabilize² the country. VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu has more from our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi.

 
Residents vacate homes near government buildings fearing more attacks in Mogadishu, 13 Feb 2007
Residents in Mogadishu awoke to more violence in the capital, including an overnight grenade attack on the house of a government minister.

Commerce Minister Abdullahi Ahmed Afrah was at home, but was not hurt in the attack.

A short time later, a police station was attacked and four mortars³ exploded near the port of Mogadishu.

Somali journalists report that many civilians⁴ living near places where attacks have occurred - the airport, seaport⁵, the presidential palace, military bases, and police stations - are fleeing the city.

Attacks in those places have occurred almost daily in the capital, since Ethiopian and interim⁶ government forces drove out the country's radical⁷ Islamist movement in late December.

But the intensity⁸ and number of attacks have increased steadily⁹ in recent weeks, prompting fears that Somalia's U.N.-backed, secular¹⁰ government may now be confronting the beginning of an Iraq-style insurgency¹¹.

Islamist leaders, who lost power after ruling much of southern Somalia for nearly seven months, have vowed¹² to launch a guerrilla war against the interim government and Ethiopian troops.

 
Ali Mohamed Gedi arrive at a media conference in Nairobi, 13 Feb 2007
On the way to an Africa-France summit in Paris, Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi stopped briefly¹³ in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

He told reporters that the violence in Mogadishu is being carried out almost exclusively by supporters of the defeated Islamic Courts Union and what he called "their terrorist allies."

"Do you believe they are innocent after the killings¹⁴, the destruction made by the so-called Islamic courts?" he asked. "They are not innocent. What is happening in Mogadishu is a clear sign that there are still opportunists who are not willing for peace for the benefit of the Somali people. In this regard, we are appealing to the international community, specifically the African Union and IGAD countries, to deploy¹⁵ soon African Union peacekeepers for Somalia."

Officials of the 53-member African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia say a peacekeeper deployment¹⁶ date should be announced in the next two days.

8,000 troops are needed, but only half that number has been pledged. Countries offering to send troops include Uganda, Nigeria, Burundi, Malawi, and Ghana.

Meanwhile, a group calling itself the People's Resistance Movement has posted a message on an internet web site warning that the group would shoot down any aircraft trying to land or take off from the main airport in Mogadishu.

The well-armed radical group is believed to be made up of former members of the Islamic Courts Union, who have repeatedly threatened to kill foreign peacekeepers if they are sent to Somalia.

1 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

2 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

3 mortars   

n.迫击炮( mortar的名词复数 )；砂浆；房产；研钵

参考例句：

• They could not move their heavy mortars over the swampy ground. 他们无法把重型迫击炮移过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Where the hell are his mortars? 他有迫击炮吗？ 来自教父部分

4 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。

5 seaport   

n.海港，港口，港市

参考例句：

• Ostend is the most important seaport in Belgium.奥斯坦德是比利时最重要的海港。
• A seaport where ships can take on supplies of coal.轮船能够补充煤炭的海港。

6 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。

7 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。

8 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

9 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

10 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。

11 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

12 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

13 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

14 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

15 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

16 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。