Somalia Expected to Contribute to African Peacekeepers

 

By Cathy Majtenyi

A spokesman for the former, but little-recognized, Somali government is confident Somalia's new government will uphold a pledge of troops and equipment to the African Union's standby peacekeeping force. Somalia is on record as being one of 13 eastern African countries that earlier this year pledged to contribute peacekeeping troops to the African Standby Force.

Despite Somalia being embroiled¹ in conflict, the then-Transitional National Government's offer to make available 150 troops plus 10 gun-mounted vehicles was well received by the other countries.

A seven-nation regional grouping called the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, known as IGAD, is organizing the 4,500 troop Eastern Africa Standby Brigade that will be available for African Union peacekeeping operations.

IGAD's Conflict Prevention, Management, and Resolution Chief Peter Malwa explains why Somalia's offer was welcomed. "We took it in good faith that here is a country that expresses interest first of all. It rightly belongs within Africa. Secondly², it [Somalia] was invited by us who are coordinating³ the structure. We saw it just as a statement of good intent."

The Transitional National Government was formed following a peace process that took place in 2000. The T.N.G., as it is known, was supposed to rule the whole country but was rejected by many, so that it actually only ended up having control over certain sections of the capital, Mogadishu.

According to the terms of the peace process, the T.N.G.'s mandate⁴ expired in the middle of 2003. But it continued performing certain government functions.

Mr. Malwa says his organization and the other countries viewed the T.N.G. as being Somalia's legitimate⁵ government. It has now been replaced by a new 275-seat parliament that is in the process of selecting a speaker and president.

T.N.G. spokesman Ahmed Isse Awad says he is confident the new government will uphold the promise made earlier this year. "Somalia has been away from the international scene, from the African scene for a long time so this, for them, will be another sign that Somalia is back. They will be very much willing to contribute."

Mr. Awad says it is important for the new government to be an active member of the African Union and regional initiatives, in part to establish its legitimacy⁶. He calls the troop and vehicle pledge a symbolic⁷ gesture. But it is not known where these troops will be drawn⁸ from. Mr. Awad adds that Somalia needs outside forces to secure peace in his country.

Somalia has endured 13 years of anarchy⁹ and bloodshed, with clan-based factions¹⁰ controlling specific areas of the country.

Cathy Majtenyi for VOA news, Nairobi.

注释：
Somali 索马里
uphold 支持，赞成
peacekeeping force 维和部队
African Standby Force 非洲预备部队
embroil 使卷入
Mogadishu 摩加迪沙，索马里首都
symbolic 象征的
anarchy 无政府状态，混乱
bloodshed 流血

1 embroiled   

adj.卷入的；纠缠不清的

参考例句：

• He became embroiled in a dispute with his neighbours. 他与邻居们发生了争执。
• John and Peter were quarrelling, but Mary refused to get embroiled. 约翰和彼得在争吵，但玛丽不愿卷入。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

3 coordinating   

v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的现在分词 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• He abolished the Operations Coordinating Board and the Planning Board. 他废除了行动协调委员会和计划委员会。 来自辞典例句
• He's coordinating the wedding, and then we're not going to invite him? 他是来协调婚礼的，难道我们不去请他？ 来自电影对白

4 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

5 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

6 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

7 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

8 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

9 anarchy   

n.无政府状态；社会秩序混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• There would be anarchy if we had no police.要是没有警察，社会就会无法无天。
• The country was thrown into a state of anarchy.这国家那时一下子陷入无政府状态。

10 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别