2007年VOA标准英语-Guinean Soldiers Fire Shots Over Pay Disputes

By Naomi Schwarz
Dakar
03 May 2007

Gunfire heard overnight across Guinea ended without external intervention¹. Witnesses say the gunfire came from soldiers agitating² for unpaid³ back wages. Naomi Schwarz has more on the story from VOA's regional bureau in Dakar.

Shots were heard in Guinea's capital, Conakry, late Wednesday and they continued through the night until the early morning hours. They came from a military camp, Alfa Yaya Diallo, just south of the capital. Shots were also heard in the interior of the country, at the regional cities of Kindia and Labé.

There was no information about victims, and eyewitness⁴ reports indicate that the shooters, all soldiers, ceased fire without any outside intervention.

Analyst⁵ with British research organization Chatham House, Alex Vines, says this is not the first such violent display from angry soldiers in Guinea.

"The issue seems to be that they were in dispute about salary increases and the payment of arrears⁶," he said. "This has happened before in Guinea and is reflective of the very difficult financial situation that everyone finds themselves in."

Military sources told French media the soldiers are protesting more than $60,000 of back wages they say have been unpaid since 1996.

But Vines says the shooting is more worrying than past incidents, because of the current political and economic climate in Guinea.

In January, union leaders called a nationwide strike. They said President Lansana Conté's declining health made him unable to lead the country effectively. They called for the appointment of an independent prime minister with a strong mandate⁷ to institute reforms.

The protests turned bloody⁸ when Mr. Conté used the military to suppress the protests. But the strike continued, and only ended in late February, when Mr. Conté appointed Lansana Kouyate as prime minister, from a list of candidates proposed by civil society leaders.

But Vines says Guinea is not out of the woods yet.

"The new prime minister has got a very tough task on his hands," he said. "The incident with the soldiers is an indication of the challenges he has. The economy in Guinea is underperforming badly, despite the high level of commodities. It is a colossal⁹ task to try to reform government structures in Guinea." 

And in the meantime, Guinea is still reeling from the aftermath of the violent crackdown of the protests. According to a probe by Guinean authorities, 137 people, mostly civilians¹⁰, were killed. Nearly 1,700 were injured

Alex Vines says this all plays a part in the overnight shooting.

"It just confirms what everybody knew that the military had acted with disproportionate force to demonstrators and this in turn will not please the military," he added.  "Which is why, an incident like the one with restive¹¹ soldiers over pay increases and arrears feeds into the sense of insecurity and unpredictability that is in Guinea at the moment."

Vines says, hanging over everything, is the worsening medical condition of Mr. Conté, and the threat of further instability over succession when he dies.

1 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

2 agitating   

搅动( agitate的现在分词 )； 激怒； 使焦虑不安； （尤指为法律、社会状况的改变而）激烈争论

参考例句：

• political groups agitating for social change 鼓吹社会变革的政治团体
• They are agitating to assert autonomy. 他们正在鼓吹实行自治。

3 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。

4 eyewitness   

n.目击者，见证人

参考例句：

• The police questioned several eyewitness to the murder.警察询问了谋杀案的几位目击者。
• He was the only eyewitness of the robbery.他是那起抢劫案的唯一目击者。

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 arrears   

n.到期未付之债，拖欠的款项；待做的工作

参考例句：

• The payments on that car loan are in arrears by three months.购车贷款的偿付被拖欠了三个月。
• They are urgent for payment of arrears of wages.他们催讨拖欠的工钱。

7 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

8 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

9 colossal   

adj.异常的，庞大的

参考例句：

• There has been a colossal waste of public money.一直存在巨大的公款浪费。
• Some of the tall buildings in that city are colossal.那座城市里的一些高层建筑很庞大。

10 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

11 restive   

adj.不安宁的，不安静的

参考例句：

• The government has done nothing to ease restrictions and manufacturers are growing restive.政府未采取任何措施放松出口限制,因此国内制造商变得焦虑不安。
• The audience grew restive.观众变得不耐烦了。