Nigeria says the amnesty it is offering to rebels in the oil-rich Niger Delta is boosting production of crude oil that had been hurt by violence. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton discussed the issue with Nigerian officials.
尼日利亚称，对尼日尔河三角洲地区的反政府分子实行的特赦，促进了由于暴力活动而受影响的当地原油生产。美国国务卿克林顿与尼日利亚方面讨论了这一问题。
Nigerian Foreign Minister Ojo Maduekwe says President Umara Yar'Adua is very optimistic that peace will be fully restored in the oil-rich Niger Delta by the end of the year.
尼日利亚外长奥乔.马杜埃奎说，总统奥马鲁.亚拉杜瓦对于今年年底恢复尼日尔河三角洲的安全局势十分乐观。当地有着丰富的石油资源。
The Yar'Adua government has offered an amnesty to rebels in the Niger Delta who have been attacking oil platforms and taking hostages for years. Maduekwe says that amnesty is boosting oil production.
亚拉杜瓦政府向尼日尔河三角洲的反政府武装分子提供特赦。这些武装分子多年来一直袭击石油开采设施，并携持人质。马杜埃奎表示，特赦推动了石油生产。
"Already it is coming up," Maduekwe said. "It is improving. Just the mere perception that peace is coming back, amnesty is working, the oil levels are gradually coming up again."
他说：“石油产量已经在上升，情况在改善。可以稍微感觉到和平的气氛，特赦正在发挥作用，石油生产正在渐渐上升。”
Maduekwe spoke to reporters following a meeting with Secretary of State Clinton, who says Nigerian defense officials have made "very promising" specific suggestions about how the U.S. military can help bring peace and stability to the Niger Delta.
马杜埃奎在与美国国务卿克林顿会晤之后向记者们讲这番话的。克林顿表示，尼日利亚国防官员已经就美军如何帮助恢复尼日尔河三角州地区的和平与稳定提出了“很有用”的具体建议。
"We will through our joint efforts through our bi-national commission mechanism determine what Nigeria would want from us for help," Clinton said. "Because we know this is an internal matter, we know this is up to the Nigerian people and their government to resolve, and then look to see how we would offer that assistance."
她说：“我们将通过双方的共同努力和两国间的互动机制，来决定尼日利亚需要从我们这里得到什么样的帮助。因为我们明白这是一项内政问题，要靠尼日利亚人民和政府来解决，然后再来看我们怎样提供帮助。”
Mrs. Clinton says the Obama administration understands the importance of stability in a country that is Africa's largest contributor of peacekeeping forces, its biggest oil producer, and the largest recipient of American direct private-sector investment in Sub-Saharan Africa.
克林顿国务卿表示，奥巴马政府明白尼日利亚内部稳定的重要性。尼日利亚是非洲最大的维和力量和最大的石油生产国，也是美国在撒哈拉以南非洲地区私人直接投资最多的国家。
"So given all that, it is critical for the people of Nigeria, first and foremost, but indeed for the United States, that Nigeria succeeds in fulfilling its promise," Clinton said.
“基于这些原因，尼日利亚前途的稳定首先对于尼日利亚人民是至关重要的。同时对于美国来说也是非常重要的。”
Nigeria is America's fifth-largest supplier of oil. The International Energy Agency says Nigeria crude production fell to a 20-year low last month as a result of both technical problems and violence in the Niger Delta, including an attack on a Chevron pipeline.
尼日利亚是美国第五大原油进口国。国际能源署表示，上个月尼日利亚的原油产量降到了20年来的最低水平。这主要是因为技术问题以及尼日尔三角州的暴力问题，包括一次对于雪弗龙石油管道的袭击。
Militants in the Delta say they are fighting against a government in Abuja that has not done enough to address the environmental degradation of oil production and has not equitably shared revenues that come from the region's oil.
在三角州地区活跃的武装分子说，他们与阿布贾政府作战的原因是政府没有做出足够努力来解决石油生产带来的环境恶化问题，以及没能公平分配来自当地的石油收入。
Foreign Minister Maduekwe says amnesty is a way for the government to start anew to address those issues.
尼日利亚外长奥乔.马杜埃奎说，特赦使得政府可以重新开始考虑这些问题。
"There is an issue of justice, an issue of environmental degradation," Maduekwe said. "These are historic injustices that have taken place over time. Whether some of those who carried arms did it our of genuine desire for the welfare of the people or did it, as we know from evidence, out of pure personal criminal profiting, there was need for us to reset. And let's start all over again."
他说：“这里有一个公平的问题，一个环境恶化的问题。这些是长久积存下来的历史性问题。不管有些武装分子是出于真心实意为人民谋取福利，还是我们从证据中了解的那样，为纯粹的私人非法利益而战，都需要我们来解决。所以让我们重新开始。”
He says the amnesty offered by President Yar'Adua is a leap of faith.
"We clearly understood that there was need to be bold and imaginative in dealing with that," Maduekwe said. "Old methods were not going to be good enough."
Not all the Delta rebels have accepted the offer. Daphne Wysham is on the board of the U.S.-based Institute for Policy Studies. She says amnesty is one step, but does not acknowledge the government's role in the violence.
"It does not offer a counter-assumption of also any sort of obligation on the part of the government to seek forgiveness for its role in the conflict that is ongoing there," Wysham said.
The latest International Energy Agency report on Nigeria says amnesty may not end the violence because few rebel leaders have entered into direct negotiations with the government, and the offer of cash payments falls short of demands for the redistribution of oil revenue.
国际能源署对于尼日利亚情况的最新报告显示，特赦也许并不能对安全局势起到作用。因为只有为数不多的反政府分子同意与政府进行直接对话，同时政府提出的现金补偿也低于石油收入重新分配所能带来的收益。 |