VOA标准英语10月-Rival Somali Clans Holding Ukrainian Ship

Somali pirates holding a Ukrainian ship carrying military hardware are denying reports that a disagreement among the gunmen about what to do with the ship has led to a fatal shootout. But as VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu reports from our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi, the pirates on board are made up of militiamen from two rival clans¹, who have little in common.
　

Pirates holding the merchant vessel2 MV Faina receive supplies while under observation by a US Navy ship, 30 Sep 2008

Pirate spokesman Sugule Ali tells VOA that reports that a deadly firefight two days ago killed three pirates is a lie, being spread by people who do not know the situation aboard the hijacked³ ship.

Ali says the group remains⁴ unified⁵ and focused on talks with the ship's owners to secure the release of the MV Faina and her 20 crew members in exchange for a $20 million ransom⁶.

He says there has been no shooting whatsoever⁷ on the ship and there are no disagreements that would cause anyone to fire in anger.

The pirates say they had no idea that the freighter was carrying 33 Russian-built tanks and other military equipment when they seized it off the eastern coast of Somalia last Thursday.

Since then, several U.S. Navy warships⁸ and a Russian frigate⁹ have been deployed¹⁰ to the area to prevent the pirates from trying to offload the cargo¹¹ and bring it ashore¹² to a country already awash in arms and torn apart by civil war since 1991. The United States believes at least one Islamist group operating in Somalia has ties to the al-Qaida terror network and is eager to keep tanks and heavy weapons out of its reach.

On Monday, a maritime¹³ official based in Mombasa, Kenya, Andrew Mwangura, told reporters that the presence of warships had raised tensions among some 60 factional fighters that make up the pirate group and the shooting took place after an argument over whether to free the cargo and the crew.

Mwangura says that report comes from relatives of the pirates and is reliable. He says there was another shooting incident on board the ship on Tuesday, but no one was hurt.

"It is true," he said. "There was a shootout yesterday and the day before yesterday, there was a shootout aboard the ship, whereupon three gunmen were shot dead by their own comrades because this ship is being held captive by two different clans."

VOA sources in Somalia say some of the pirates on the ship belong to the Majarteen sub-clan of the Darod tribe. Prominent Majarteen members include Somalia's interim¹⁴ government President Abdullahi Yusuf and the president of the semi-autonomous region of Puntland Adde Muse¹⁵, who has been accused of profiting from pirate activities taking place off the coast of Puntland.

Other pirates in the group belong to sub-clans of the Habre Gedir, which is itself a sub-clan of the larger Hawiye tribe. The Hawiye and the Darod have a long history of rivalry¹⁶ in Somalia, and some of their top members in government have been locked in a bitter power struggle since they took power in late 2006 on the back of an Ethiopia-led military intervention¹⁷.

Andrew Mwangura says the enormous ransoms¹⁸ being paid to free captured vessels¹⁹ have prompted many Somali clans to set aside their differences and cooperate in pirate activities.

1 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

2 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

3 hijacked   

劫持( hijack的过去式和过去分词 )； 绑架； 拦路抢劫； 操纵（会议等，以推销自己的意图）

参考例句：

• The plane was hijacked by two armed men on a flight from London to Rome. 飞机在从伦敦飞往罗马途中遭到两名持械男子劫持。
• The plane was hijacked soon after it took off. 那架飞机起飞后不久被劫持了。

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 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

6 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

7 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

8 warships   

军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只

参考例句：

• The enemy warships were disengaged from the battle after suffering heavy casualties. 在遭受惨重伤亡后，敌舰退出了海战。
• The government fitted out warships and sailors for them. 政府给他们配备了战舰和水手。

9 frigate   

n.护航舰，大型驱逐舰

参考例句：

• An enemy frigate bore down on the sloop.一艘敌驱逐舰向这只护航舰逼过来。
• I declare we could fight frigate.我敢说我们简直可以和一艘战舰交战。

10 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

11 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

12 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

13 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

14 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。

15 muse   

n.缪斯（希腊神话中的女神），创作灵感

参考例句：

• His muse had deserted him,and he could no longer write.他已无灵感，不能再写作了。
• Many of the papers muse on the fate of the President.很多报纸都在揣测总统的命运。

16 rivalry   

n.竞争，竞赛，对抗

参考例句：

• The quarrel originated in rivalry between the two families.这次争吵是两家不和引起的。
• He had a lot of rivalry with his brothers and sisters.他和兄弟姐妹间经常较劲。

17 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

18 ransoms   

付赎金救人，赎金( ransom的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The kidnappers exacted ransoms for their hostages. 绑匪勒索人质的赎金。
• Hotel:Wealthy captives sleep at the hotel for an increase in their ransoms. 酒店：富有的俘虏们要住在酒店等待足够的赎金以回家。

19 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》