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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Nairobi
12 March 2007
In the Somali capital, Mogadishu, elders of the locally-dominant1 Hawiye clan2 tell VOA that the interim3 government's plan to disarm4 civilians5 there by force will only ignite clan warfare6 and bring more instability. VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu has more from our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi.
An old Somali man, holds his gun in Bakhara market in Mogadishu to defend his family from looters (File photo)
Struggling to assert control in the violence-wracked capital, the Somali transitional government announced on Sunday that its troops will soon begin conducting a massive, house-to-house search for weapons throughout Mogadishu.
Deputy Defense7 Minister Salad Ali Jelle says it is the intention of the government to disarm all civilians and bring security to the capital within 30 days.
In a telephone interview with VOA, the leaders of the dominant Hawiye clan in Mogadishu voiced strong objections to the disarmament plan.
Clan elder Abdulkadir Haji Muse8 says the biggest concern is who will be doing the disarming9. He says most of the interim government troops patrolling the city are not from Mogadishu, but from the semi-autonomous region of Puntland. Moreover, the soldiers are members of Hawiye clan's chief rival, the Darod.
Puntland is the home of interim President Abdullahi Yusuf, who is a Darod. Muse says a move to disarm Mogadishu residents by force would be viewed by many people not as an effort by President Yusuf to bring security, but a move to marginalize and disenfranchise the Hawiye.
The clan elder says he and many others are convinced that the disarmament plan is a Darod attempt to politically and militarily weaken the Hawiye. Muse says his clan, which dominated the ousted10 Islamic Courts Union, will never accept government orders to disarm.
Somalia's multi-clan, U.N.-backed interim government tried to disarm civilians in Mogadishu two months ago, but postponed11 the process after hundreds of angry people rioted in the city.
Government officials say they will not back down this time because disarmament is the only way African peacekeepers can safely take control of the city's security.
The peacekeepers are to replace thousands of Ethiopian troops, whose military support of the interim government was crucial in driving out the Islamists in late December.
But many Somalis in the city view the Ethiopians as an invading force and the government they are protecting has been unable to gain popular support. Since January, both government and Ethiopian troops have come under near-daily attack from insurgents12, who are believed to be radical13 Islamists, operating in cooperation with some disgruntled Hawiye factional militias14.
About 1,000 troops from Uganda are already in Mogadishu as the vanguard of a planned eight-thousand member African Union peacekeeping mission to Somalia.
But another Hawiye clan leader, Khalid Hussein Abdi, tells VOA that their presence is not welcome.
Abdi says he believes the peacekeepers will do nothing but support militias from Puntland and Darod clan members, who are planning to subjugate15 the Hawiye.
Violence against the Ugandan peacekeepers began as soon as they arrived in Mogadishu last Tuesday, when they were greeted with a mortar16 barrage17 near the airport. The following day, insurgents ambushed18 a convoy19 of peacekeepers and on Friday, a cargo20 plane, carrying equipment and several Ugandan soldiers, landed at the Mogadishu airport in flames.
The Ugandan military said the plane had experienced mechanical problems and caught fire. But VOA has learned from reliable sources that the plane was hit by at least one rocket-propelled grenade fired from the ground.
1 dominant | |
adj.支配的,统治的;占优势的;显性的;n.主因,要素,主要的人(或物);显性基因 | |
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2 clan | |
n.氏族,部落,宗族,家族,宗派 | |
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3 interim | |
adj.暂时的,临时的;n.间歇,过渡期间 | |
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4 disarm | |
v.解除武装,回复平常的编制,缓和 | |
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5 civilians | |
平民,百姓( civilian的名词复数 ); 老百姓 | |
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6 warfare | |
n.战争(状态);斗争;冲突 | |
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7 defense | |
n.防御,保卫;[pl.]防务工事;辩护,答辩 | |
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8 muse | |
n.缪斯(希腊神话中的女神),创作灵感 | |
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9 disarming | |
adj.消除敌意的,使人消气的v.裁军( disarm的现在分词 );使息怒 | |
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10 ousted | |
驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 ); 革职; 罢黜; 剥夺 | |
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11 postponed | |
vt.& vi.延期,缓办,(使)延迟vt.把…放在次要地位;[语]把…放在后面(或句尾)vi.(疟疾等)延缓发作(或复发) | |
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12 insurgents | |
n.起义,暴动,造反( insurgent的名词复数 ) | |
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13 radical | |
n.激进份子,原子团,根号;adj.根本的,激进的,彻底的 | |
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14 militias | |
n.民兵组织,民兵( militia的名词复数 ) | |
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15 subjugate | |
v.征服;抑制 | |
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16 mortar | |
n.灰浆,灰泥;迫击炮;v.把…用灰浆涂接合 | |
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17 barrage | |
n.火力网,弹幕 | |
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18 ambushed | |
v.埋伏( ambush的过去式和过去分词 );埋伏着 | |
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19 convoy | |
vt.护送,护卫,护航;n.护送;护送队 | |
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20 cargo | |
n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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