VOA常速英语2007年-Mali Tuareg Leaders Meet Over Stalled Peace Pla

By Kari Barber
Dakar
05 November 2007

Two Mali Tuareg leaders are to meet Monday in Algiers in an effort to revive a peace process between rebels and the Malian government. Tuareg, nomadic¹ Berbers, have been fighting the government, they say for more aid and development projects in their region in the country's north. Kari Barber has more from our West Africa bureau in Dakar.

Tuareg rebel leaders Iyad Ag Ghaly and Ibrahim Ag Bahanga are expected to discuss a relaunch of a peace process with the government.

A peace deal was broken in August when Bahanga kidnapped about 40 people and launched attacks against Mali's army. While most have since been released, some are still being held captive. Rebel leader Ghaly had helped to broker² the ceasefire Bahanga broke and has since mediated³ between Bahanga and the government.

Malian journalist Amadou Maiga has been following the Tuareg rebellion and he says Bahanga may be losing the backing of the people.

"Some people do not know because for these people this Bahanga did too much," said Maiga. "People are very angry against him."

Maiga says this could interfere⁴ with the success of the talks.

The Malian government has accused Bahanga of using the rebellion as a guise⁵ to get more control over the region in order to run an illegal drug trade. Bahanga denies this.

British Tuareg researcher Jeremy Keenan says while Bahanga's influence may be in question, he could still play an important role in bringing an end to the strife⁶.

"Although he is held in high respect as a traditional leader, politically there is this question mark about his involvement about outside parties," he said. "So he rather bridges this sort of gap."

Keenan says there are also concerns about the talks being held in Algeria, Mali's neighbor to the north, who has often sought greater influence in the region.

"They recognize its presence in the region, they recognize that it may be able to bring things to bear - it has influence," added Keenan. "But I do not think trust is in great abundance on either side at the moment."

Keenan says outside pressures from countries seeking to extend their sphere of influence as well as United States' anti-terrorism efforts in the country may be exacerbating⁷ the rebellion.

But he says he is optimistic the talks could deliver peace for at least a period of time.

"All parties want to get a settlement in Mali, so I would be surprised if these talks do not lead to at least to a temporary sort of deal that could become more permanent if it is not upset again by external parties," he said.

Keenan says quelling⁸ unrest in Mali should be easier than containing neighboring Niger's larger and more volatile⁹ Tuareg rebel movement which has staged an increasing number of attacks in recent months. Niger's Tuareg also complain of economic neglect on the part of their government.

1 nomadic   

adj.流浪的；游牧的

参考例句：

• This tribe still live a nomadic life.这个民族仍然过着游牧生活。
• The plowing culture and the nomadic culture are two traditional principal cultures in China.农耕文化与游牧文化是我国传统的两大主体文化。

2 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

3 mediated   

调停，调解，斡旋( mediate的过去式和过去分词 )； 居间促成； 影响…的发生； 使…可能发生

参考例句：

• He mediated in the quarrel between the two boys. 他调解两个孩子之间的争吵。
• The government mediated between the workers and the employers. 政府在工人与雇主间搞调和。

4 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

5 guise   

n.外表，伪装的姿态

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors.他们假装成视察员进了学校。
• The thief came into the house under the guise of a repairman.那小偷扮成个修理匠进了屋子。

6 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

7 exacerbating   

v.使恶化，使加重( exacerbate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• This pedagogical understretch is exacerbating social inequalities. 这种教学张力不足加重了社会不平等。 来自互联网
• High fertilizer prices are exacerbating the problem. 高涨的肥料价格更加加剧了问题的恶化。 来自互联网

8 quelling   

v.（用武力）制止，结束，镇压( quell的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Quelling her grief, she said 'Good-bye! 'again and went on. 她把悲痛压下去，二番说了一声再见，又转身走去了。 来自辞典例句
• The police succeeded in quelling the riot. 警方把暴乱镇压了下去。 来自辞典例句

9 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。