Ivory Coast Rebel Leader Travels to South Africa

 

By Carrie Giardino

The leader of the northern rebels in Ivory Coast is traveling to South Africa to meet with President Thabo Mbeki to discuss the peace process in the world's number one cocoa-producing nation. Meanwhile, the leader of the pro-government youth militia¹ says western citizens remaining in Ivory Coast will be protected.

Spokesman for the rebel New Forces, Sidiki Konate, says Chairman Guillaume Soro is preparing to fly to South Africa to meet with President Mbeki. Mr. Soro had previously² said he would not attend any meeting in which Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo would be present. President Mbeki met with President Gbagbo in Abidjan last week.

Mr. Konate accuses President Gbagbo of undermining the peace process in Ivory Coast after the Ivorian military conducted air raids on the north, violating an 18-month-old cease-fire agreement nearly two weeks ago.

"Because the man is working against the agreement. He's working against the whole international community. He's destroying the city of Abidjan and the whole Ivory Coast," Mr. Konate said. "He's chasing the foreign people who are here to help us develop. So, it's time now to say Mr. Gbagbo you cannot work."

President Gbagbo has promised not to violate an arms embargo³ imposed by the United Nations on Monday and says he is working to implement⁴ the peace agreements. Before the arms embargo was passed, President Gbagbo had said he would buy new warplanes to protect his country after France destroyed the small Ivorian air force in retaliation⁵ for the death of nine French peacekeepers earlier this month.

There have been unconfirmed reports from the military that new Sukhoi bombers⁶ and helicopter gunships had been purchased last week and arrived in a neighboring country. The United Nations has threatened sanctions against individuals viewed as jeopardizing⁷ the peace process in Ivory Coast, which has been teetering on the verge⁸ of war for more than two years.

Evacuations of foreigners are still taking place from the international airport in Abidjan. Although more than five thousand non-nationals and more than twice as many nationals have fled the recent violence, government controlled national television has said only 500 French nationals have left.

The leader of the pro-government youth militia Young Patriots⁹, Charles Ble Goude, says his group is working to protect members of the international community.

"Anybody who attacks the foreigners or the French community, it is not in our aim to attack the international community," he said. "What we are doing ourselves is to protect that community in order to show the truth to the outside world."

The truth according to Mr. Ble Goude is that the French soldiers securing the city of Abidjan and other areas of Ivory Coast should be driven out. He accuses them of killing¹⁰ innocent civilians¹¹ and says France is the enemy.

President Gbagbo is expected to hold a cabinet ministers meeting on Thursday to discuss the new deadlines for the implementation¹² of the peace agreement.

Carrie Giardino, for VOA news, in Abidjan.

注释：
Abidjan 阿比让
undermine 破坏
air raid 空袭
implement 执行
warplane 军用机
retaliation 报仇
bomber 轰炸机
teeter 摇摇欲坠
evacuation 撤退
secure 保护
innocent 无辜的

1 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。

2 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

3 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。

4 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

5 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 jeopardizing   

危及，损害( jeopardize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Plans may also become inefficient in the attainment of objectives by jeopardizing group satisfactions. 用危及群体利益方法去达到目标的计划，也是无效率的。
• That boosted government revenues in the short term, but is now jeopardizing them. Morales将天然气工业，电信业和部分采矿业收归国有的举措吓跑了投资者们。

8 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

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。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

9 patriots   

爱国者，爱国主义者( patriot的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Abraham Lincoln was a fine type of the American patriots. 亚伯拉罕·林肯是美国爱国者的优秀典型。
• These patriots would fight to death before they surrendered. 这些爱国者宁愿战斗到死，也不愿投降。

10 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

11 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

12 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。