2006年VOA标准英语-Ivory Coast Protests Continue Despite Call

By Joe Bavier
Abidjan
19 January 2006

Violent protests by supporters of Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo have entered their fourth day in the government-controlled south. Protesters continue to demonstrate outside U.N. headquarters and the French embassy despite a call by the president and prime minister to leave the streets.

-----------------------------------------------

Supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo run through the streets of Abidjan  
  

Several hundred supporters of Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo carried their protests in front of the French embassy in Abidjan into a fourth consecutive¹ day.

Over a loudspeaker a leader of the pro-Gbagbo movement, known as the Young Patriots², called upon supporters to head to the U.N. headquarters and the city's main French military base.

Violent demonstrations³ continued across the war-divided country's government-held south, despite a call for calm late Wednesday by Ivorian leaders and the head of the African Union.

At the end of their emergency meeting, President Gbagbo, Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny, and acting⁴ AU chairman, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, called upon demonstrators to return home.

Pro-Gbagbo militants⁵ continued to mass outside the U.N. headquarters in Abidjan, throwing rocks and pieces of concrete at peacekeepers inside. Demonstrators surrounded a U.N. base in the city of Daloa for a third straight day. And Young Patriots occupied major intersections⁶ throughout Abidjan.

But the head of the Young Patriots, Charles Ble Goude, in a phone interview with VOA, said he was ready to withdraw his supporters from the streets.

"Were analyzing⁷ the decision that has been announced by President Obasanjo yesterday," he said. "So, we are now meeting to make a decision."

A presidential decree has officially banned public demonstrations in Abidjan since late 2004, when violent anti-French protests led by the Young Patriots forced the evacuation of around 8,000 foreign residents.

"We are not discussing the principle of leaving the streets," explained Charles Ble Goude. "We are discussing the manner, how we are going to tell them."

Protests targeting the United Nations and French peacekeeping forces in Ivory Coast began early Monday. Angry supporters of the president are demonstrating against a recommendation by foreign mediators not to renew the expired mandate⁸ of parliament. The legislative⁹ body is dominated by Mr. Gbagbo's supporters.

1 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

2 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。

3 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

4 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

5 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

6 intersections   

n.横断( intersection的名词复数 )；交叉；交叉点；交集

参考例句：

• Traffic lights have been placed at all major intersections. 所有重要的交叉路口都安装了交通信号灯。
• Intersections are of the greatest importance in highway design. 在道路设计中，交叉口占有最重要的地位。 来自辞典例句

7 analyzing   

v.分析；分析( analyze的现在分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析n.分析

参考例句：

• Analyzing the date of some socialist countries presents even greater problem s. 分析某些社会主义国家的统计数据，暴露出的问题甚至更大。 来自辞典例句
• He undoubtedly was not far off the mark in analyzing its predictions. 当然，他对其预测所作的分析倒也八九不离十。 来自辞典例句

8 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

9 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。