2007年VOA标准英语-Somali President Agrees to Reconciliation Meeti

By Leslie Neuhaus
Addis Ababa
30 January 2007

Somalia's president agreed Tuesday to a national reconciliation¹ conference to try to end 16 years of fighting in the war-ravaged country. As Les Neuhaus in Addis Ababa reports for VOA, the announcement paves the way for the deployment² of African peacekeepers.

 
An aide directs Somalia President Abdullahi Yusuf, left, and EU Development Chief Louis Michel
Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf told journalists in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, that the troops would be deployed³ soon, although he gave no exact timeframe.

"The peacekeeping force from the African Union will arrive soon," he said.
 
The African Union is looking to send in an 8,000-strong force, but so far only three nations - Uganda, Nigeria and Malawi - have pledged troops.

Meanwhile, fears are mounting that the country could once again be plunged⁴ back into civil war without a peacekeeping force to replace withdrawing Ethiopian troops who had helped prop⁵ up the interim⁶ government, established in 2004 with the help of the United Nations.

To allay⁷ those fears, Mr. Yusuf says he plans to hold a national reconciliation conference in the country to try and end the bitter feuding⁸ among rival clans⁹ in Somalia. The move comes weeks after Somali government forces backed by Ethiopian troops, tanks and warplanes ousted¹⁰ a rival Islamic movement that had threatened to take control of the country and confine the government to one farming town.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is in Addis and says the world body will have to discuss taking over the African Union mission. The African Union says that it wants the U.N. to take over the Somali peacekeeping operation after six months from the initial deployment.

 
Ban Ki-Moon (file photo)
"Once the African Union's mission is in place, we hope the African Union will be able to deal with this matter," he said.  "I have heard certain wishes from African countries about the possible takeover of IGASOM and AMISOM by U.N. peacekeeping forces, but this is a matter of further discussions among the Security Council members and I will discuss this matter when I return."

European Union development chief, Louis Michel, says a key part in helping¹¹ achieve peace must include dialogue with Somalis.  He says the EU is prepared to finance the national reconciliation conference.

"What we expected when we decided¹² to the council that we (the EU) had 50 million euro to finance a stabilizing¹³ force, but we told them that it would be submitted to conditions, and the condition was inclusive dialogue and we suggested that the president convene¹⁴ a national reconciliation conference."
 
The two-day summit has focused on two of the continent's thorniest¹⁵ issues, the worsening violence in Sudan's Darfur region and attempts to restore peace to Somalia.

1 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

2 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。

3 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

4 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。

5 prop   

vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山

参考例句：

• A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
• The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。

6 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。

7 allay   

v.消除，减轻(恐惧、怀疑等)

参考例句：

• The police tried to allay her fears but failed.警察力图减轻她的恐惧，但是没有收到什么效果。
• They are trying to allay public fears about the spread of the disease.他们正竭力减轻公众对这种疾病传播的恐惧。

8 feuding   

vi.长期不和（feud的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Riccardo and Cafiero had been feuding so openly that the whole town knew about it. 里卡多和卡菲埃罗一直公开地闹别扭，全城的人都知道此事。 来自辞典例句
• The two families have been feuding with each other for many generations. 这两个家族有好多代的世仇了。 来自互联网

9 clans   

宗族( clan的名词复数 )； 氏族； 庞大的家族； 宗派

参考例句：

• There are many clans in European countries. 欧洲国家有很多党派。
• The women were the great power among the clans [gentes], as everywhere else. 妇女在克兰〈氏族〉里，乃至一般在任何地方，都有很大的势力。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源

10 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

11 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。

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 stabilizing   

n.稳定化处理[退火]v.（使）稳定， （使）稳固( stabilize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The disulfide bridges might then be viewed primarily as stabilizing components. 二硫桥可以被看作是初级的稳定因素。 来自辞典例句
• These stabilizing design changes are usually not desirable for steady-state operation. 这些增加稳定性的设计改变通常不太符合稳态工作的要求。 来自辞典例句

14 convene   

v.集合，召集，召唤，聚集，集合

参考例句：

• The Diet will convene at 3p.m. tomorrow.国会将于明天下午三点钟开会。
• Senior officials convened in October 1991 in London.1991年10月，高级官员在伦敦会齐。

15 thorniest   

adj.多刺的( thorny的最高级 )；有刺的；棘手的；多障碍的

参考例句：

• Paradoxically, the thorniest outstanding issue involves Bolivia. 而荒谬可笑的是，最棘手的国家要事却牵涉到了玻利维亚。 来自互联网