2007年VOA标准英语-West, Central Africa Leaders Seek Strategies Ag

By Kari Barber
Dakar
28 September 2007

Security experts and officials from nations across West and Central Africa say they will try to improve communication between their countries and with the United Nations in order to better assess and fight terrorism within their borders.  Representatives from 23 nations met in Dakar this week to discuss how a better flow of information will help battle terrorism as well as the region's escalating¹ drug trade problem.  Kari Barber reports for VOA from Dakar.

Foreign Affairs representative for Equatorial Guinea Hermenegildo Ondo Nsono says he is concerned even his tiny island country could be the target of a terrorist attack.

He says he hopes that by sharing information with the U.N.'s terrorism and drug-control arm, the oil-rich nation can keep its borders secure and keep out illegal drugs.

The drug trade has been on the rise in West Africa particularly in the small, poverty-stricken nation of Guinea-Bissau, which experts say, has become a key transit² point for international trafficking.

U.N. experts at the conference say part of the difficulty in sharing information is poor infrastructure³ throughout the region and a lack of personnel in many countries where even paying civil servant salaries is a struggle.

A magistrate⁴ in Gabon, Marie-Anne Mboga, says fighting terrorism, drug trade and weapons trafficking represent overlapping⁵ concerns.  She says countries should adopt laws to give the governments more ability to control borders and investigate possible threats.

Mboga says Gabon officials are concerned by the number of undocumented foreigners that pass in and out of their borders.

Vienna-based U.N. terrorism prevention expert Piera Barzano says it is difficult to implement⁶ this kind of active surveillance in the region where poverty is acute and where many countries are still wracked from recent civil wars.

"It demands a lot of work for states that might not always have the human and economic resources to devote to this exercise," she said.

But she says the countries seem very willing to participate with the U.N.'s efforts.

Security experts have long warned that the region's porous⁷ borders and lack of security could create a welcome terrain⁸ for terrorist groups.

1 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

2 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

3 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

4 magistrate   

n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官

参考例句：

• The magistrate committed him to prison for a month.法官判处他一个月监禁。
• John was fined 1000 dollars by the magistrate.约翰被地方法官罚款1000美元。

5 overlapping   

adj./n.交迭（的）

参考例句：

• There is no overlapping question between the two courses. 这两门课程之间不存在重叠的问题。
• A trimetrogon strip is composed of three rows of overlapping. 三镜头摄影航线为三排重迭的象片所组成。

6 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

7 porous   

adj.可渗透的，多孔的

参考例句：

• He added sand to the soil to make it more porous.他往土里掺沙子以提高渗水性能。
• The shell has to be slightly porous to enable oxygen to pass in.外壳不得不有些细小的孔以便能使氧气通过。

8 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。