voa标准英语2008年-UN Chief Names Special Envoy for DRC Crisis

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has named a former Nigerian president as his special envoy¹ to help resolve the crisis in violence-wracked Eastern Congo. Mr. Ban also said Monday, that he is willing to go himself to Africa to meet with the presidents of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda to help facilitate an end to the crisis. From United Nations headquarters in New York, VOA's Margaret Besheer has more.
　

Olusegun Obasanjo (file photo)

Mr. Ban told reporters he nominated former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo as his special envoy.

"He will work with the leaders of the region and international community to bring about a lasting² political solution," he said. "I expect all those with a stake in region's future - the Security Council, the African Union and the European Union - to support him to the fullest."

The secretary-general said that with a cease-fire now in place, it is essential that aid workers be granted unhindered access to the tens-of-thousands of people who have been displaced by the violence.

Mr. Ban said he is willing to travel to Africa in the coming days to meet with President Joseph Kabila of Congo and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda to discuss the crisis. He said both leaders have expressed a willingness to meet with him.

Mr. Ban said he is happy the two leaders have begun a direct dialogue, although they have not yet met face-to-face.
　

Laurent Nkunda (file photo)

The government of Congo has accused Rwanda of backing rebel leader Laurent Nkunda's forces, which launched a recent offensive around the eastern Congolese city of Goma. Nkunda says he is protecting eastern Congo's Tutsi minority ethnic³ group from attacks by the FDLR, a Rwandan Hutu rebel group, that Nkunda claims has received support from Congo's military.

Earlier Monday, Mr. Ban's special envoy for Congo, Alan Doss, spoke⁴ to reporters via video link from Goma. He said the cease-fire is holding and that U.N. peacekeepers continue to patrol the city. But he again stressed that the 17,000-strong force is over-stretched.

"We have approximately one soldier for every 10,000 citizens in the Kivus," he said. "We have 10,000 soldiers, roughly, in the Kivus for 10 million people. So that shows you the scale of challenge we face as we go forward."
　

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (file)

U.N. peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy, who is also in Goma, asked the Security Council last month to send additional forces to Congo. The council still has not made a decision on that request. In the meantime, the United Nations is trying to reconfigure its force within the country to send more troops to the Goma area.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters that he hopes member states will be able to provide the necessary additional resources to the mission. Currently, there is only one battalion⁵ of about 900 peacekeepers in the Goma region.

1 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

2 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

3 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。

4 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。

5 battalion   

n.营；部队；大队(的人)

参考例句：

• The town was garrisoned by a battalion.该镇由一营士兵驻守。
• At the end of the drill parade,the battalion fell out.操练之后，队伍解散了。