Sudan Government, Rebels Sign Oil-Sharing Agreement（在线收听）

Sudan Government, Rebels Sign Oil-Sharing Agreement

Alisha Ryu

The Sudanese government and the country's southern rebels on Wednesday signed a key agreement on how to share the country's oil wealth, bringing the two sides one step closer to ending their two decades-long civil war.

Following a signing ceremony in the Kenyan town of Naivasha, the leader of the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army, John Garang, hailed the agreement as a major achievement toward building lasting peace in Sudan.

"It takes determination and hard decisions to achieve peace and the agreement we have just signed on wealth sharing reflects this determination and seriousness. This is indeed another hill that we have surmounted. And we shall surmount all of the hills that are coming."

Mr. Garang and his Sudanese government counterpart, Vice President Ali Osman Taha, agreed Wednesday on a pact for the rebels to equally split oil and other revenue from southern Sudan with Khartoum during a six-year transition period of autonomy from the government.

The interim period is due to go into effect once a comprehensive peace accord is reached.

Africa's longest-running war began in 1983 when the mainly Christian and animist southern rebels took up arms against the predominantly Arab Muslim government in Khartoum. The rebels have been demanding greater equality and autonomy in the south ever since.

The struggle for control of Sudan's vast oil reserves, which are mainly located in the south, became fierce after Sudan became an oil exporter in 1999. Rebels and international human rights groups have long accused the government of brutally forcing tens of thousands of civilians to flee oil-rich areas in the south.

The country currently earns an estimated $2 billion a year from its oil production of more than 250,000 barrels per day. Some experts believe that output could increase to 450,000 barrels in the next two years, provided the country can end the war and attract enough investment from major Western energy companies.

But two toughest issues of the peace process remain unresolved - how to share power and the status of three disputed regions in central Sudan.

Last month, disagreements over details of those issues caused the warring parties to miss their self-imposed end-of-year deadline to reach a comprehensive peace accord.

注释：

Sudanese [su:dE5ni:z] adj. 苏丹（Sudan）的

Kenyan [5kenjEn] adj. 肯尼亚共和国（人）的

Sudan People's Liberation Army  苏丹人民解放军

hail [heil] vt. 为……欢呼

surmount [sE:5maunt] vt. 越过，征服

counterpart [5kauntEpB:t] n. 搭档

pact [pAkt] n. 协定，条约

autonomy [C:5tCnEmi] n. 自治

interim [5intErim] adj. 临时的，过渡的

due to  应该

go into effect  生效

accord [E5kC:d] n. 协定

running [5rQnIN] adj. 不断的，连续的

animist [5Animist] adj. 万物有灵论的

take up arms  拿起武器

predominantly [pri5dCminEntli] adv. 占优势地，支配其他地

Muslim [5mJzlIm] n. 穆斯林，穆罕默德信徒

reserve [ri5zE:v] n. 储藏量

fierce [fiEs] adj. 猛烈的

brutally [5bru:tlli] adv. 残忍地

barrel [5bArEl] n. 桶

provided [prE:5vaidid] conj. 倘若

status [5steitEs] n. 情形，状况

dispute [dis5pju:t] v. 争论

warring [5wC:riN] adj. 敌对的，交战的

self-imposed [5selfim5pEuzd] adj. 自愿接受的