Uganda releases Somali minister

Somalia's junior minister for defence who was briefly¹ held in Uganda has been released（发布）, Uganda's army spokesman says.

Sheikh Yusuf Mohamed Siad, a former Islamist warlord, was detained by Ugandan security forces during a trip to the capital Kampala on Tuesday.

Army spokesman Lieut Col Felix Kulayigye said he was arrested（被捕） following a tip-off that a Somali dissident had entered the country.

When it became clear who the man was, he was set free, Col Kulayigye said.

Mr Siad had apparently² been visiting relatives in Kampala, but had not told the Ugandan authorities of his trip, and was reportedly bundled into an unmarked police car on Tuesday.

Col Kulayigye defended the actions of the security forces.

"His arrest was not a mistake. He had not notified us that as a minister he was visiting the country. Had he done that there would have been no problem," he told the BBC.

Islamist past

Mr Siad and his large militia³ were allied⁴ to Hizbul-Islam - a powerful Islamist group fighting with the Somali government for control of the country.

 

AU troops - 'fig-leaf' for Somalia? Behind Somalia's Islamist rivalry5

But earlier this year he defected to the Somali government and was appointed to the defence portfolio⁶.

The government is backed by a 5,000-strong African Union force, half of whom are Ugandan（乌干达） peacekeepers.

They have been targeted and killed in fighting with Islamist rebels in recent months.

The BBC's Africa analyst（分析师） Martin Plaut says Mr Siad's arrival in Uganda would have raised all sorts of questions in the minds of Ugandan security officials.

Somalia has experienced almost constant conflict since the collapse⁷ of its central government in 1991.

It was hoped the election of moderate Islamist Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed as president in January and the departure of Ethiopian troops would stop the violence.

But Islamist insurgents⁸ are keeping up their attacks and the government's military position has weakened further.

Mr Siad, who became minister of state for defence in June, served as head of security under President Ahmed when he briefly governed Somalia as chairman of the Union of Islamic Courts for six month in 2006. (本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

2 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

3 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

4 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

5 rivalry   

n.竞争，竞赛，对抗

参考例句：

• The quarrel originated in rivalry between the two families.这次争吵是两家不和引起的。
• He had a lot of rivalry with his brothers and sisters.他和兄弟姐妹间经常较劲。

6 portfolio   

n.公事包；文件夹；大臣及部长职位

参考例句：

• He remembered her because she was carrying a large portfolio.他因为她带着一个大公文包而记住了她。
• He resigned his portfolio.他辞去了大臣职务。

7 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

8 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网