VOA标准英语2008年-Zimbabwe Talks Resume on Fringes of SADC Summit

Talks between Zimbabwe's political parties will resume in South Africa on the sidelines of the Southern Africa Development Community summit which formally opens Saturday. Meanwhile, Botswana president Ian Khama has withdrawn² from the summit in protest at the presence of Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe. VOA's Delia Robertson reports from our southern Africa bureau in Johannesburg.

A source close to the tripartite talks aimed at ending Zimbabwe's political crisis told VOA the talks between the parties will resume on the fringes of the SADC summit.

It is why we are here," he said.
　
Robert Mugabe addresses gathering³ on Heroes' day in Harare, 11 Aug 2008

Earlier this week three marathon sessions failed to produce a final agreement between President Robert Mugabe and the leaders of the two factions⁴ of the Movement for Democratic Change, Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutumbara.

South African President Thabo Mbeki, who was last year mandated⁵ by SADC to mediate⁶ the talks, is assuming the chairmanship of the organization this weekend. He had been hoping to conclude the talks successfully prior to the summit.

In addition to Mr. Mugabe, SADC has also invited Mutambara and Tsvangirai to attend this weekend's meeting. Tsvangirai said the status of the talks will be discussed by the regional leaders.

"I suppose President Mbeki will report to SADC, and we, because there is this deadlock⁷, I think that we also have to make an input," he said.

One of the reasons Mr. Mbeki was hoping to have an agreement before the summit was to prevent discord⁸ around the event itself. Speaking at the opening of the ministerial meeting Thursday South Africa's Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma urged delegates not to allow the Zimbabwean crisis to cause differences among member countries.

"We should not allow any situation, no matter how difficult, to threaten that unity¹ and cohesion," she said.

Despite Dlamini-Zuma's urging however, Botswana announced Friday that President Ian Khama would not attend the summit in protest over Mr. Mugabe's presence. In a statement, the country's foreign ministry⁹ said that Botswana does not accept the result in Zimbabwe's presidential run-off election in June because the election violated the core principles of SADC, the African Union and the United Nations.

South Africa's largest trade union federation¹⁰, the Congress of South Africa Trade Unions and 14 other civil society organizations will protest at the summit Saturday against the presence of Mr. Mugabe and Swazi King Mswati III, who according to Swaziland's constitution, has the right to overrule all laws and rules.

 

1 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

2 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

3 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

4 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

5 mandated   

adj. 委托统治的

参考例句：

• Mandated desegregation of public schools. 命令解除公立学校中的种族隔离
• Britain was mandated to govern the former colony of German East Africa. 英国受权代管德国在东非的前殖民地。

6 mediate   

vi.调解，斡旋；vt.经调解解决；经斡旋促成

参考例句：

• The state must mediate the struggle for water resources.政府必须通过调解来解决对水资源的争夺。
• They may be able to mediate between parties with different interests.他们也许能在不同利益政党之间进行斡旋。

7 deadlock   

n.僵局，僵持

参考例句：

• The negotiations reached a deadlock after two hours.两小时后，谈判陷入了僵局。
• The employers and strikers are at a deadlock over the wage.雇主和罢工者在工资问题上相持不下。

8 discord   

n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐

参考例句：

• These two answers are in discord.这两个答案不一样。
• The discord of his music was hard on the ear.他演奏的不和谐音很刺耳。

9 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

10 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。