2007年VOA标准英语-Somali, Kenyan Presidents Meet

By Cathy Majtenyi
Nairobi
02 January 2007

Somalia's interim¹ president is in Kenya for talks with President Mwai Kibaki and other top security officials. Meanwhile, Kenyan authorities have arrested and detained at least eight people at a border crossing, saying they could be fighters and financiers of the Islamic Courts Union attempting to flee Somalia into Kenya. Cathy Majtenyi reports for VOA from Nairobi.

 
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki (r) receives Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf at State House in Mombasa, 2 Jan 2007
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf, and top Kenyan security officials gathered in the port city of Mombasa to discuss the security situation in volatile² Somalia and how to prevent the conflict from spilling over into Kenya.

Ethiopian-backed Somali government troops are fighting the Islamic Courts Union for control of Somalia.

Somali Minister of Foreign Affairs Esmael Mohamud Hurreh tells VOA high on the agenda will be Somalia's bilateral³ relations with Kenya and an appeal by President Yusuf to help a Somalia Hurreh says is now free of the Islamic Courts Union.

"People talk about Somalia, but when it comes to delivering assistance, it is a lot of talk and no help," he said. "This time we want the international community, instead of just talking, to do something and assist the transitional federal government to bring about law and order, stability, peace, in the country."

Meanwhile, Kenyan authorities hold at least eight people, apprehended⁴ at Liboi on the Kenyan-Somali border, who are suspected to be fighters and financiers of the Islamic Courts Union. According to media reports, the suspects hold Eritrean, Canadian, and other passports.

The director of operations of Kenya's police, David Kimaiyo, tells VOA it is unclear whether or not the suspects have been involved in the recent fighting, and that authorities are investigating the situation.

The Somali government appealed Monday to Kenya to close its border with Somalia, saying that many of the Islamic Courts Union's fighters and officials are fleeing into Kenya.

Police Operations Director Kimaiyo tells VOA that as far as he knows, this has not yet happened at the top leadership level.

"The real Islamists themselves, the leaders, we have not actually caught any of them so far," he said. "But you never know, with the group that are coming in, they may be some of the sympathizers and so on."

Kimaiyo says it is difficult to distinguish Islamist fighters and officials from refugees escaping the fighting, and says the authorities are trying to identify people crossing the border as best as they can.

 
Somali Foreign Minister Esmael Mohamud Hurreh (file photo)
Somali foreign minister Hurreh tells VOA he met Tuesday with Kenyan Minister of Foreign Affairs Raphael Tuju and discussed how the two governments could carry out screening procedures at the border.

"We want to make sure that these Islamist terrorists do not blend in with the rest of the people and try to do damage to Kenya also as they tried to do damage to Somalia," he said.

The latest round of fighting was sparked two weeks ago by the passing of a deadline the Islamists set to order Ethiopian troops to leave Somalia or face war.

Until recently, Ethiopian authorities denied the existence of combat troops in Somalia, saying only that Ethiopian soldiers were helping⁵ train Somali-government troops.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi says Ethiopian troops will remain in Somalia for another few weeks.

1 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。

2 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

3 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

4 apprehended   

逮捕，拘押( apprehend的过去式和过去分词 )； 理解

参考例句：

• She apprehended the complicated law very quickly. 她很快理解了复杂的法律。
• The police apprehended the criminal. 警察逮捕了罪犯。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。