2007年VOA标准英语-West African Leaders Mull Deadlocked Ivorian Pe

By Phuong Tran
Dakar
19 January 2007

Leaders have gathered for the 31st summit of the Economic Community of West African States on Friday. Leading the agenda was the deadlock¹ in the U.N.-backed peace process in the Ivory Coast. Phuong Tran reports from VOA's Central and West Africa Bureau in Dakar.

 
Ivory Coast's President Laurent Gbagbo (l) talks with Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny during the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) summit, 19 Jan 2007
West African heads of state, including Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo and Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny, met to make recommendations for a report to the United Nations on the Ivory Coast's compliance² with a resolution passed last November.

U.N. Resolution 1721 gives Prime Minister Banny sweeping³ powers to implement⁴ a peace plan that called for democratic elections in the Ivory Coast by October 2007, including control of the security forces.

Kissy Agyeman, analyst⁵ with the London-based Global Insight, says that President Gbagbo has effectively prevented the plan's implementation⁶. She does not believe the report by the regional group known as ECOWAS will advance the peace process.

"[President Laurent] Gbagbo has always been a good political [tactician]," she said. "It is great in terms of what will be written on paper, but the real problem in Cote d'Ivoire is implementation."

Mr. Gbagbo said that he would not fully⁷ apply the resolution because it violated the Ivorian constitution. Last month he proposed his own plan to hold direct talks with the rebel forces controlling the north of the country. He says international peace plans have done nothing to help reunite Ivory Coast.

Rebels say they are fighting to get more northerners, long treated as second-class citizens, the right to vote.

Though the New Forces rebel leader, Guillaume Soro, has indicated willingness to dialogue, Alex Vines, the head of Africa Programs at the London-based Royal Institute of International Affairs, says this will not be enough to break the stalemate.

 "There are very key issues that need to be resolved in Cote d'Ivoire. There is the disarmament issue of the rebels themselves. There is also the issue of identity. People in the north need to get ID cards to secure national identity as Ivorian which is a key issue," he said.

 
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) summit in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, 19 Jan 2007
The International Working Group on Cote d'Ivoire proposed last Friday that the U.N. Security Council leave it to ECOWAS and the African Union to bring together actors to break the deadlock.

But Vines with the Royal Institute for International Affairs says this suggestion is unrealistic.

"The Cote D'Ivoire does not trust ECOWAS at all," he said, "so African Union mediation⁸ is really the way forward, though that has not worked too well to date."

Among other agenda items, the Friday summit will also discuss the current strike in Guinea and elect a new president to succeed Niger President Mamadou Tandja.

Missing from Friday's summit was Guinean President Lansana Conte.

1 deadlock   

n.僵局，僵持

参考例句：

• The negotiations reached a deadlock after two hours.两小时后，谈判陷入了僵局。
• The employers and strikers are at a deadlock over the wage.雇主和罢工者在工资问题上相持不下。

2 compliance   

n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从

参考例句：

• I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
• She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。

3 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

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 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

6 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。

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

8 mediation   

n.调解

参考例句：

• The dispute was settled by mediation of the third country. 这场争端通过第三国的斡旋而得以解决。
• The dispute was settled by mediation. 经调解使争端得以解决。