2006年VOA标准英语-Islamist Militias Face Widespread Opposition in

By Alisha Ryu
Baidoa, Somalia
05 July 2006
 
When Islamic militias² in Somalia seized the capital Mogadishu last month, many Somalis welcomed the Islamist's victory as the first step to possibly ending nearly 16 years of lawlessness. But as the leadership in Mogadishu presses forward with plans of establishing a fundamentalist theocracy³, there are signs that conquering the country will be more difficult than capturing the capital.

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Like millions of soccer fans all over the world, Fowzi Abdinur Mohammed cannot get enough of World Cup action.

On this day, he is once again glued to the television set.

Mohammed says he feels lucky to be living in Baidoa, where everyone is still free to watch and do whatever they wish.

The capital Mogadishu and several other towns along the way to the border with Ethiopia are said to be under the control of hard-line Islamists, who have imposed strict Islamic laws called Sharia. People living under Sharia are discouraged, if not banned, from participating in activities deemed "Western" because they are considered un-Islamic.

One such area is the Galgadud region in central Somalia. News reports say at least two people were killed late Tuesday when Islamic gunmen opened fire on scores of young demonstrators protesting a ban on viewing the World Cup. 

 
Militia¹ from the Islamic Courts Union walk in Balad, June 17, 2006
  
"The difference between here and Mogadishu is quite big because the Islamic Courts in Mogadishu, they do not give the people free life and democracy - the right to choose," he said.

The vast majority of Somalis are Muslim and many consider themselves devout⁴. But for centuries, Somalia's Islamic roots have been largely based on Sufism, a strain of Islam that stresses spiritualism and is more tolerant of other religions and lifestyles.

A member of a Sufi Muslim clerics' association in Baidoa, Sheikh Abdullahi Ali Adan, tells VOA that the radical⁵ Islamists in Mogadishu are not true representatives of Islam and few Somalis accept them as such.

The cleric says Islam is a religion of peace, equality, and fraternity, but the men who seized Mogadishu have twisted the meanings of the teachings in the Holy Koran to justify⁶ their desire to take power through violence and force.

In Baidoa's bustling⁷ open-air market, nearly everyone VOA spoke⁸ to expressed similar disapproval⁹ for the leadership in Mogadishu. But for many, their grievances¹⁰ against the leaders are clan¹¹-based.

Many Baidoa residents like Yusuf Moalim Abdullahi say the Islamists have no credibility here because many members of the courts are former factional leaders who belong to the Hawiye clan. As warlords, Abdullahi says the Hawiye men destroyed the lives of thousands of rival Digil and Mirifle clan members in Baidoa and other parts of southern Somalia.

Abdullahi says one of those former warlords is Yusuf Mohammed Siad, who grabbed vast amounts of land in the area in and around Merca after the fall of the last functioning government in 1991. Siad is believed to be a high-ranking militia commander in the Islamic Courts, now known as the Supreme¹² Islamic Council of Somalia.

Abdullahi says the land Siad took by force belongs to his Digil and Mirifle clan, who are the majority in the region around Baidoa. The shopkeeper says his clan will never accept the rule of a group, which he says is made up of thieves and murderers.

The United States and other western countries are also worried about the Islamic leadership in Mogadishu. They are concerned that radicals¹³ inside the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia are harboring al-Qaida operatives and will attempt to turn Somalia into a full-fledged haven¹⁴ for a host of other terrorists.

Since the Islamists' takeover of the capital, support for the country's Transitional Federal Government has grown steadily¹⁵ among western countries, the African Union, the United Nations, and Somalis who reject being ruled by the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia.

The interim¹⁶ government was cobbled together in neighboring Kenya 19 months ago and has been based in Baidoa for the past year because it has not had enough security to enter the capital.

Like members of the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia, many interim government leaders and parliament members are former factional leaders, who divided Somalia into clan-based fiefdoms and plunged¹⁷ the country into lawlessness for the past 15 years.

Despite questions about its ability to rule democratically, it is a government that has a balanced clan representation and is internationally recognized. Some residents here say they are increasingly convinced that supporting the government is their only option to counter the fundamentalist threat posed by radicals inside the council and groups like al-Qaida, who want to establish a firm presence in Somalia.

Another shopkeeper, who identifies herself only as Nurkiya, says the Islamic council and their followers¹⁸ may oppose deploying¹⁹ U.N. peacekeeping troops in Somalia. But the interim government and its supporters would welcome them with open arms.

Nurkiya says the presence of foreign troops would force moderate Islamic leaders to work with the interim government. She says once those leaders establish good relations with the government, they may be accepted by the majority of the people and the country can be peaceful again.

But the two sides remain far apart on a number of issues, including the deployment²⁰ of foreign peacekeepers.

The interim government says it cannot bring stability to Somalia without the help of foreign troops to disarm²¹ factional militias. The hardliners in charge of the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia say it will declare a holy war if any foreign troop sets foot on Somali soil.

With such differences, some Somalis believe the prospect²² for peace in their country appears more remote than ever.

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 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

3 theocracy   

n.神权政治；僧侣政治

参考例句：

• Shangzhou was an important period for the formation and development of theocracy.商周时期是神权政治形成与发展的重要阶段。
• The Muslim brothers look as if they will opt for civil society rather than theocracy.穆斯林兄弟看起来好像更适合文明的社会，而非神权统治。

4 devout   

adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness)

参考例句：

• His devout Catholicism appeals to ordinary people.他对天主教的虔诚信仰感染了普通民众。
• The devout man prayed daily.那位虔诚的男士每天都祈祷。

5 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

6 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

7 bustling   

adj.喧闹的

参考例句：

• The market was bustling with life. 市场上生机勃勃。
• This district is getting more and more prosperous and bustling. 这一带越来越繁华了。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 disapproval   

n.反对，不赞成

参考例句：

• The teacher made an outward show of disapproval.老师表面上表示不同意。
• They shouted their disapproval.他们喊叫表示反对。

10 grievances   

n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚

参考例句：

• The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 clan   

n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派

参考例句：

• She ranks as my junior in the clan.她的辈分比我小。
• The Chinese Christians,therefore,practically excommunicate themselves from their own clan.所以，中国的基督徒简直是被逐出了自己的家族了。

12 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

13 radicals   

n.激进分子( radical的名词复数 )；根基；基本原理；[数学]根数

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals. 一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The worry is that the radicals will grow more intransigent. 现在人们担忧激进分子会变得更加不妥协。 来自辞典例句

14 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

15 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

16 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

17 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

18 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

19 deploying   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Provides support for developing and deploying distributed, component-based applications. 为开发和部署基于组件的分布式应用程序提供支持。
• Advertisement, publishing, repair, and install-on-demand are all available when deploying your application. 在部署应用程序时提供公布、发布、修复和即需即装功能。

20 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

21 disarm   

v.解除武装，回复平常的编制，缓和

参考例句：

• The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. 全世界等待伊拉克解除武装已有12年之久。
• He has rejected every peaceful opportunity offered to him to disarm.他已经拒绝了所有能和平缴械的机会。

22 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。