2007年VOA标准英语-New Darfur Clashes Raise Questions About Peace

By Nick Wadhams
Nairobi
10 August 2007

Clashes in Sudan's Darfur region have reportedly killed dozens of people including rebels and government forces. The rebels say that subsequent air raids by the Sudanese government has forced 25,000 people to flee their homes in the troubled region. Nick Wadhams has more from Nairobi.

The latest round of fighting began last week with an attack by rebels from the Justice and Equality Movement on the town of Adila. The subsequent clashes between the rebels and government forces raises new fears that efforts to end the Darfur conflict will be lost just a week after the U.N. Security Council authorized¹ a peacekeeping force of 26,000 for the region.

The peacekeepers are not expected to arrive for months but will find themselves paralyzed if there is no peace to keep. An estimated 200,000 people have been killed and more than two million others have been displaced in Darfur since fighting began in 2003, and many had hoped the peacekeeping force was a sign of better things to come.

The Justice and Equality Movement says it launched the latest attacks starting a week ago on Adila, where Sudanese government forces were guarding the sole rail link between Darfur and the capital Khartoum to the west. The government says it has since recaptured the town.

The rebels contend that government forces had resumed aerial bombing in violation² of U.N. Security Council resolutions that banned such flights. It also claimed to have shot down a government jet, a claim that Khartoum denies.

Another rebel faction³, the Sudan Liberation Army of Minni Minawi, recently clashed with government forces near the city of Nyala.

 

The spokesman for the small African Union peacekeeping force now in Darfur, Noureddine Mezni, says that is a bad sign because the SLA was among the groups that signed a peace deal with the government in 2006.

"Even the signatories cannot solve their grievances⁴ through the proper channels but rather resort to hostile acts which further delays the peace process," said Mezni. "Really we are calling on all the stakeholders to stop fighting, talk to each other and to set their problems through peaceful means. Everybody now agrees that there is no military solution to the conflict in Darfur."

The attacks are also drawing criticism from Darfur's other rebel groups because they came either just before or during negotiations⁶ over the weekend in Arusha, Tanzania, where the rebels agreed to present a united front ahead of possible peace talks with Khartoum.

A separate faction of the Sudan Liberation Army which did not participate in those talks called the Justice and Equality Movement attacks a bid for attention. Yahia Bolad is a London-based spokesman for that faction.

"This is not the first time. When the negotiation⁵ started, they started to make disturbance⁷ for the negotiation," said Bolad. "This is their way to make attraction to themselves that they are there but we have commitment to the ceasefire agreement. If you are going to negotiate in Arusha, this is a double standard."

Analysts⁸ had said that an important success of the Arusha talks was the fact that the rebels had managed to speak with one voice. Now, if individual rebel groups are again launching attacks on their own, the Khartoum government could see the rebels as divided and weak, and may be less inclined to negotiate with them.

1 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。

2 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

3 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

4 grievances   

n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚

参考例句：

• The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

6 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

7 disturbance   

n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调

参考例句：

• He is suffering an emotional disturbance.他的情绪受到了困扰。
• You can work in here without any disturbance.在这儿你可不受任何干扰地工作。

8 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。