2007年VOA标准英语-Ivory Coast Rebels, "Patriots" Meet As Symbol o

By Kari Barber
Dakar
21 April 2007

In Ivory Coast Saturday, rebels met with supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo to show they are united in backing a peace deal signed last month. The meeting, which took place in Abidjan, is the first of its kind since rebels and the army faced off in a conflict that has divided the nation since 2002. Kari Barber has more from VOA's West and Central Africa bureau in Dakar.

People wave Ivorian flags reading 'Peace' 21 April 2007 at Youpougon sport complex, in Abidjan during a jonit "patriots1" and rebels peace meeting

New Forces rebel Cisse Sindou, now a member of the cabinet of Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, the rebel leader, says the meeting is about looking forward. "One of the key words of the peace process - yesterday we were enemies, today we are all together to bring peace to the Ivory Coast. This is this picture we want everybody, at the national level and the international level, to see," he said.

Charles Ble Goude, leader of the Young Patriots, as the forces loyal to President Gbagbo are known, says the display of unity² is important to instill confidence that the peace deal will last where other attempts have failed. "This is very, very important because a meeting between the loyalists and the rebels in the same stadium. For us, this is to show to the African world that there are no more rebels in this country, we are all brothers. In the past time we used to quarrel, but the quarrel is over," he said.

Prime Minister Soro and President Gbagbo took the first steps in the peace process, agreeing to share power and unify³ their military forces.

Ble Goude says what remains⁴ to be done is bridge the divide between north and south. In the civil war that began in 2002, rebels held the northern part of the country and government forces controlled the south. "The past is the past. The past is over. Now let us work for the future. No more Ivorians for the north, no more Ivorians for the south. Let us work for Africa, let us work for Cote D'Ivoire," he said.

Government spokesman Lambert Bahi says the new power-sharing government is happy to see the effects of the peace deal begin to take shape. "They want to want to work hand in hand in order to strengthen, to consolidate⁵ the peace process and I am very optimistic and everybody is," he said.

Earlier this week, authorities began dismantling⁶ the buffer⁷ zone, a U.N. and French-patrolled area that stretches across the country, dividing north from south.

The new government will also need to organize presidential elections, which have been delayed several times, and agree on a system to issue national identification papers.

1 patriots   

爱国者，爱国主义者( patriot的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Abraham Lincoln was a fine type of the American patriots. 亚伯拉罕·林肯是美国爱国者的优秀典型。
• These patriots would fight to death before they surrendered. 这些爱国者宁愿战斗到死，也不愿投降。

2 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

3 unify   

vt.使联合，统一；使相同，使一致

参考例句：

• How can we unify such scattered islands into a nation?我们怎么才能把如此分散的岛屿统一成一个国家呢？
• It is difficult to imagine how the North and South could ever agree on a formula to unify the divided peninsula.很难想象南北双方在统一半岛的方案上究竟怎样才能达成一致。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 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。

6 dismantling   

（枪支）分解

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。
• The dismantling of a nuclear reprocessing plant caused a leak of radioactivity yesterday. 昨天拆除核后处理工厂引起了放射物泄漏。

7 buffer   

n.起缓冲作用的人(或物)，缓冲器；vt.缓冲

参考例句：

• A little money can be a useful buffer in time of need.在急需时，很少一点钱就能解燃眉之急。
• Romantic love will buffer you against life's hardships.浪漫的爱会减轻生活的艰辛。