2006年VOA标准英语-Somali Islamists Consolidate Power

By Alisha Ryu
Mogadishu
01 August 2006

The rise of hardliners in Somalia's Islamist group is fueling regional and western concerns that a Taleban-style regime will be established and the country will become a breeding ground for terrorists. The group's top leader is Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, who spoke¹ to VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu in Mogadishu by telephone from his base in the Galgadud region of central Somalia.

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Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys stands inside a mosque² in northern Mogadishu, in this Oct. 12, 2005, file photo   
  
It is rare for the 62-year-old Islamic leader to be seen in public or to grant interviews. But he said he felt it was important to talk to VOA so that he could set the record straight about his vision for Somalia's future.

Aweys says Somalia is not Afghanistan and the only thing the two countries have in common is the religion of Islam. He continues, "If you ask me what Somalia is and will be in the future, it is Islamic. But that is where the similarity between Somalia and Afghanistan ends, and the United States has no right to ask or know what we will or will not do."

The cleric would not clarify how the country under his rule would differ from that of Afghanistan's former Taleban rulers, who imposed the harshest form of Islamic laws, called sharia, and gave sanctuary³ to Osama bin⁴ Laden⁵.

But questions about Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys' extremist leanings and ties to terrorist groups have been raised since the early 1990s, when he headed a Somali Islamic militia⁶ called al-Itihaad al-Islamiya.

Aweys maintains the group was only concerned with fighting Ethiopian attempts to establish a political and military foothold in Somalia. But western terrorism experts say the al-Itihaad group was made up of hardcore militants⁷, determined⁸ to turn the country into a fundamentalist Islamic state.

Aweys is on a U.S. list of people linked to terrorism. But he denies he is a terrorist and says his only purpose for spreading Islamic rule is to help Somalia recover from 15 years of lawlessness and factional divisions.

"What Somalis want is to unite under Islamic law," said Aweys. He says unlike what the West thinks about different interpretations⁹ of Sharia, there is only one set of Islamic laws, written in the holy Koran. Aweys continues, "The West thinks that is bringing terrorism to Somalia. I tell you that we are installing Islamic laws to promote peace and we will not stop until all of Somalia is under sharia."

The Islamic leader blames neighboring Ethiopia as being the biggest obstacle to what he says is the country's desire to unite under sharia. The Islamists have accused Ethiopia of sending troops to protect Somalia's secular¹⁰, but weak, transitional government in the town of Baidoa. 

Islamic Courts militiamen burn an Ethiopian flag in Mogadishu  
  
But interim-government leaders counter that Islamists are accepting arms and troops from Ethiopia's arch enemy, Eritrea.

Ethiopia says Eritrea is trying to use the Islamists to start a proxy¹¹ war against Ethiopia in Somalia.

Eritrea denies the charges. Aweys says, as far as he is aware, his group has never accepted weapons from Eritrea nor has that country sent troops into Somalia.

"The only troops we have in Somalia are Ethiopians and it is the Ethiopians who made up this story about Eritrea as an excuse to invade Somalia," he said.

Aweys says that because the Ethiopians are still in Somalia, Islamists and government leaders are unable to hold a meaningful dialogue to form a unity¹² government.

The cleric says the only way the two sides can ever sit together for talks is if the Ethiopians pull out of Somalia for good.

Ethiopia rejects the Islamist charges, but the largely Christian¹³ country says it reserves the right to defend its borders from Islamist aggression¹⁴.

The United States and the United Nations have urged all sides to re-engage in peace talks and have called for Ethiopia and Eritrea to stay out of Somalia.

1 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。

2 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

3 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

4 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

5 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

6 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。

7 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。

8 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

9 interpretations   

n.解释( interpretation的名词复数 )；表演；演绎；理解

参考例句：

• This passage is open to a variety of interpretations. 这篇文章可以有各种不同的解释。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The involved and abstruse passage makes several interpretations possible. 这段艰涩的文字可以作出好几种解释。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

11 proxy   

n.代理权，代表权；（对代理人的）委托书；代理人

参考例句：

• You may appoint a proxy to vote for you.你可以委托他人代你投票。
• We enclose a form of proxy for use at the Annual General Meeting.我们附上委任年度大会代表的表格。

12 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

13 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

14 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。