2007年VOA标准英语-US Presses for Somali Political Reconciliation

By David Gollust
State Department
26 June 2007

The United States Tuesday urged Somalia's transitional federal government to reach out as broadly as possible to clans² and other factions³ for the national reconciliation⁴ conference planned for mid-July. The transitional government's prime minister, Ali Mohamed Gedi, met senior State Department officials in Washington Monday. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi looks at his destroyed house, 04 June 2007

Officials here say they're not trying to dictate⁵ who should be invited to the planned reconciliation conference, which has already been postponed⁶ three times this year.

But they say the transitional government should cast as wide a net as possible among the country's political factions, if the conference is to achieve its objective of establishing stable governance in Somalia for the first since 1991.

The comments came after senior State Department officials held talks Monday with transitional Prime Minister Gedi, who also had meetings at the White House and with members of Congress.

Potential international donors⁷ for Somali reconstruction⁸ and others have pressed for the reconciliation conference, which the interim⁹ administration had first intended to hold in April and which is now scheduled for mid-July.

An elderly Somali woman is carried by after she was injured in a roadside bomb attack, in Mogadishu, Somalia, 26 Jun 2007

Though government officials have attributed the delays to security and funding issues, news reports from Mogadishu have blamed clan¹ rivalries¹⁰ and demands by opposition¹¹ factions that Ethiopian troops, who intervened in Somalia late last year, leave before the conference is held.

At a news briefing, State Department Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey avoided direct criticism of transitional authorities, but said it is important that the reconciliation process include all Somalis who are willing to participate peacefully in the building of democratic institutions:

"There should be the broadest possible discussion," he said.  "Certainly individuals committed to violence, individuals not willing to work in a democratic system, are not people who we would need to, or want to, see participate because there's no point in that. But in terms of the other elements of Somali society, we do want to see the net cast as broadly as possible. That's why we've been supportive of this reconciliation conference."

Ethiopian intervention¹² in Somalia on behalf of the United Nations-backed transitional government ousted¹³ the Islamic Courts movement, which included figures the United States accused of having ties with al-Qaida.

But recent months have seen a resurgence¹⁴ of attacks on government and Ethiopian troops, reportedly by remnants of the Islamic forces and militias¹⁵ drawn¹⁶ from the powerful Hawiye clan, which says it is being excluded from the political process.

A written statement from the State Department late Monday said U.S. officials expressed concern to Mr. Gedi about recent arrests in Mogadishu of prominent citizens and members of non-governmental organizations, as well as harassment¹⁷ of opposition figures and journalists.

It said the officials told the interim prime minister that efforts to undermine the dialogue process or the national reconciliation conference are unacceptable, and that Mr. Gedi was urged to arrange the immediate¹⁸ release of the detainees consistent with a general amnesty decree by interim President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed.

Spokesman Casey also said the United States is continuing to work for the replacement¹⁹ of the Ethiopian troops in Somalia with those of an African Union force authorized²⁰ by the U.N. Security Council last year, but he acknowledged the process has not moved forward as quickly as hoped.

1 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。

2 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

3 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

4 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。

5 dictate   

v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令

参考例句：

• It took him a long time to dictate this letter.口述这封信花了他很长时间。
• What right have you to dictate to others?你有什么资格向别人发号施令？

6 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

7 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

9 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。

10 rivalries   

n.敌对，竞争，对抗( rivalry的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The new government was torn by rivalries. 新政府由于各派对立而四分五裂。 来自辞典例句
• Rivalries could bring about pain and hatred or give rise to fighting. 竞争会带来痛苦、仇恨，或者引起争斗。 来自互联网

11 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

12 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。

13 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。

14 resurgence   

n.再起，复活，再现

参考例句：

• A resurgence of his grief swept over Nim.悲痛又涌上了尼姆的心头。
• Police say drugs traffickers are behind the resurgence of violence.警方说毒贩是暴力活动重新抬头的罪魁祸首。

15 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

16 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

17 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

18 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

19 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

20 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。