International Journalists Discuss

 

By Judith Latham

The Sudanese government agreed Tuesday to halt military flights over the Darfur region, and it signed a separate agreement to allow access to aid for the nearly two million people displaced by the continuing violence.

The conflict in Darfur, in western Sudan, is often cast in terms of Arabs v. black Africans, but many analysts¹ say that is an oversimplification. Nearly everyone in the region is Muslim, and the real distinction between the two groups resides mainly with their occupation. That is, the farmers in the south are generally non-Arab and are ethnic² Africans. And the nomadic³ herders, who live in the north, are largely of Arab descent. According to Talal al-Haj, U.S. bureau chief for al-Arabiya, their grievances⁴ have less to do with race than with disputes over land and water rights.

"The problem is water rights on grazing land, and this is a tribal⁵ war that has been used by the government. There are two rebel movements in Darfur, and they were attacking police stations, the government institutions. So the government -- as the rebels claim -- financed and armed the northern tribal peoples, and they are called janjaweed by the Darfurians.

"The attacks were coordinated⁶ between the government and the janjaweed forces, the Arabs, so-called, to chase the rebels. But the janjaweed went too far, and civilians⁷ were killed, women were raped⁸, children were killed, and hundreds of villages were burned. I spoke⁹ to these refugees, and they said all the attacks were helicopters or Russian-made aircraft bombing from the sky and the janjaweed on horses coming on land to finish the job."

At peace talks this week in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, the Sudanese government agreed to disarm¹⁰ the janjaweed. Both sides also agreed to reveal the location of their forces to African Union cease-fire monitors in a war the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian¹¹ crisis.

Relations between Sudan and the United States have become strained in recent months. The Sudanese government is said to resent U.S. efforts to call the long-running conflict in Darfur genocide. Talal al-Haj explains why that label is controversial: "Look, it's no secret that there is no love lost between the two countries. Sudan is on the list of countries that support terrorism. The thing is that Sudan claims they are protecting their land and these rebel movements are attacking police headquarters. And it's true, they did. But the government reaction with the janjaweed went over the top. And thousands and thousands of people were affected¹²."

But Adel el-Baz, editor-in-chief of the independent newspaper Al-Sahafa in Khartoum, sees the conflict from a different perspective. Contrary to what Washington claims, Sudanese journalist Adel el-Baz says, the situation in Darfar is not a genocide at all. He acknowledges that the Khartoum government has armed several thousand Arab tribesmen to fight the rebels, but he says that calling them janjaweed is a fallacy. He says the people of Darfur and of southern Sudan share a common set of political and economic concerns, and their respective peoples are demanding justice and economic development.

"The problem is that both regions have problems of injustice¹³, wealth distribution, and authority. Those two regions are undeveloped, says Mr. Adel el-Baz.

After months of delaying, the Khartoum government has agreed to allow 3,000 African Union troops to enter Darfur to monitor a shaky cease-fire. But critics say Khartoum's real intent was to stall the Darfur peace process until the government could reach a power and wealth-sharing arrangement with the southern rebels, the Sudanese People's Liberation Army, led by John Garang. Those talks were adjourned¹⁴ last month for the beginning of Ramadan. I ask Talal al-Haj about their current steps.

"I think there is an understanding now within Sudan and also outside Sudan that the Darfur problem cannot be solved unless the South-North [problem] is also solved," says Talal al-Haj.

With U-S troops tied down in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is considered unlikely that the American government will intervene militarily in Sudan. I ask Talal al-Haj how people in the region, you, American commitment to peace in Sudan.

"They have to be seen to act. Thousands of people are dying and they will die in that desert, if the international community does not move."

注释：
oversimplification 过度单纯化的事务
reside 居住
nomadic 游牧的
herder 牧民
grievance 委屈，不平
grazing 放牧，牧草
tribal 部落的，种族的
helicopter 直升机
aircraft 航行器
resent 怨恨，愤怒
genocide 有计划的种族屠杀
adjourn 延期

1 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

2 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。

3 nomadic   

adj.流浪的；游牧的

参考例句：

• This tribe still live a nomadic life.这个民族仍然过着游牧生活。
• The plowing culture and the nomadic culture are two traditional principal cultures in China.农耕文化与游牧文化是我国传统的两大主体文化。

4 grievances   

n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚

参考例句：

• The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

6 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

7 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。

8 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 disarm   

v.解除武装，回复平常的编制，缓和

参考例句：

• The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. 全世界等待伊拉克解除武装已有12年之久。
• He has rejected every peaceful opportunity offered to him to disarm.他已经拒绝了所有能和平缴械的机会。

11 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

12 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

13 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

14 adjourned   

（使）休会， （使）休庭( adjourn的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The court adjourned for lunch. 午餐时间法庭休庭。
• The trial was adjourned following the presentation of new evidence to the court. 新证据呈到庭上后，审讯就宣告暂停。