VOA常速英语2008年-Government, Rebels Conflict in Mineral-Rich Des

By Phuong Tran
Air Mountains, Niger
01 April 2008
 

Over the past year, desert nomad¹ rebels in northern Niger have renewed violence against government targets in the uranium-rich Saharan region because of what the rebels say is continued neglect and discrimination. The government blames the violence on drug smuggling². Phuong Tran traveled through this conflict zone, and filed this report to VOA.

Rebels with the Movement of Nigeriens for Justice have stepped up desert attacks like this one earlier this year. More than 100 rebel fighters and civilians³ have died in the fighting. Rebels target military posts and companies supplying energy to the region's biggest money maker⁴: uranium mines.

The rebels are mostly ethnic⁵ Tuareg, a desert nomad group found in the Sahara and Sahel.

Rebel armed forces leader Amoumene Kalakouawa fought in the last Tuareg uprising during the 1990s.

He says the state still neglects nomads⁶ despite a decade-old peace deal.

"More than 30 years of mining has left us even poorer than before. We just want a say in what happens in the desert. And for the state to share uranium profits with us,” he added. “What they are doing is like building a water well in someone's home, but not letting people who live there drink from it."

Niger's President Mamadou Tandja refuses to negotiate with the rebels, calling them drug traffickers. He says they want to keep out law enforcement and mining companies in order to transport drugs through the mostly unpatrolled desert. The rebels deny this.

Up until last year, France was the region's only mining investor⁷, using Niger's uranium to supply its nuclear energy needs.  But last year, numerous other new energy-hungry investors⁸ won mining contracts in the north.

Rebels have threatened to disrupt mining activities until they get a bigger share of profits.

Throughout the mountains, rebel fighters train in desert warfare⁹. Since last August, the government has placed more than half the country under a state of alert. Security forces carry out identity checks and detain people suspected of working with the rebels.

Herder Istapha Ehiya says his grazing camels wandered last December out of the desert onto the paved road linking the mining towns, Arlit and Agadez.

"Soldiers stopped me when I crossed the road looking for my camels. They searched me, shot three of my camels, and accused me of planting a land mine that killed government soldiers the day before.” said Ehiya.

 The 70-year-old herder lives 40 kilometers from where he was arrested. He says he did not know about the mine explosion.

Ehiya was released after nine days in detention¹⁰.

He has retreated deeper into the Air Mountains. He says that perhaps in this corner of the desert he and his animals will be safe from the rebellion.

1 nomad   

n.游牧部落的人，流浪者，游牧民

参考例句：

• He was indeed a nomad of no nationality.他的确是个无国籍的游民。
• The nomad life is rough and hazardous.游牧生活艰苦又危险。

2 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

3 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。

4 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

5 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

6 nomads   

n.游牧部落的一员( nomad的名词复数 )；流浪者；游牧生活；流浪生活

参考例句：

• For ten years she dwelled among the nomads of North America. 她在北美游牧民中生活了十年。
• Nomads have inhabited this region for thousands of years. 游牧民族在这地区居住已有数千年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

8 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

9 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

10 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。