2007年VOA标准英语-Businessmen Disarm in Mogadishu

By Alisha Ryu
Mogadishu
03 May 2007

Businessmen in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, began handing over their weapons to the transitional government on Thursday, following an agreement by the government to protect the business community and its properties.  VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu has details from Mogadishu.

A government soldier inspects weapons handed over by members of the business community, 03 May 2007

The handover of weapons took place Thursday morning amid heavy security at the headquarters of the Somali police.

A procession of cars and trucks delivered boxes of ammunition¹, assault rifles, and heavy guns to Somali security officials and observers, including Ethiopian military officials and Ugandan soldiers in Somalia as part of African Union's peacekeeping force.

Somalia's new police commander Abdi Hassan Awale Qeybdid told reporters that the owners of 151 local companies have agreed to disarm², a decision he says will help bring peace to one of the most dangerous cities in the world.

The police commander says the business leaders gave their promise to give up their weapons in writing.  He says getting guns off the streets is a key goal in the government's plans to secure the capital.

Ugandan army Colonel Peter Elewelo praised what he called "the brave and positive action" of Somalia's business community.  To ensure that the weapons are not used in partisan³ clan⁴ fighting, the colonel says his Ugandan peacekeepers will safeguard them at their barracks.

"This is the way forward," he said.  "We need to get rid of these dangerous guns.  They have had it for the last 16 years and it has brought nothing to them."

Government security officials tell VOA that the businessmen volunteered to give up their weapons last week, after receiving assurances that the government would implement⁵ tough security measures, especially in Bakara market, the biggest open air market in Somalia.

But it is widely believed that the business owners agreed to disarm largely because of fears that if they did not comply, the government would brand them as supporters of the defeated Islamic movement and attempt to confiscate⁶ their businesses or shut them down.

The link between Mogadishu businessmen and the Islamic courts go back more than a decade, when the first courts were established in north Mogadishu.

Through the years, the Islamists retained the support of many businessmen, because the courts provided some means of upholding law and order in a country that has had no functioning government since 1991.

Somalia's secular⁷ interim⁸ government, backed by Ethiopian troops, took power in Mogadishu in January, ending the Islamists' six-month rule over much of Somalia.  Several top Islamist leaders were accused by the Somali government, Ethiopia, and the United States of sheltering al-Qaida terrorists and turning Somalia into a terrorist training ground.

There is growing fear here now that anyone who opposes the government may be labeled as an Islamist supporter or a terrorist.

The Somali government has ruled out reconciling with leaders with the Islamist movement, whom they say are behind the violent insurgency⁹ in the capital that has killed more than 1,000 people and caused nearly 400,000 others to flee.

1 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

2 disarm   

v.解除武装，回复平常的编制，缓和

参考例句：

• The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. 全世界等待伊拉克解除武装已有12年之久。
• He has rejected every peaceful opportunity offered to him to disarm.他已经拒绝了所有能和平缴械的机会。

3 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

4 clan   

n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派

参考例句：

• She ranks as my junior in the clan.她的辈分比我小。
• The Chinese Christians,therefore,practically excommunicate themselves from their own clan.所以，中国的基督徒简直是被逐出了自己的家族了。

5 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。

6 confiscate   

v.没收(私人财产)，把…充公

参考例句：

• The police have the right to confiscate any forbidden objects they find.如发现违禁货物，警方有权查扣。
• Did the teacher confiscate your toy?老师没收你的玩具了吗？

7 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

8 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。

9 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网