2007年VOA标准英语-Five Years Into Ivorian Conflict, International

By Phillip Wellman
Dakar
19 September 2007

United Nations peacekeepers and French rapid reaction forces are gradually pulling back from front lines of the Ivory Coast conflict, giving more of a role to Ivorian forces, five years after the conflict began. But, as Phillip Wellman reports from our West Africa bureau in Dakar, other parts of the peace process lag behind.

The United Nations Operation in Ivory Coast, known as ONUCI, says it has finished dismantling¹ a zone of confidence that has separated government troops in the south from rebels in the north since late 2002. The conflict broke out on September 19, 2002, when mainly northern army officers clashed with other army personnel in the commercial capital, Abidjan, before taking over more than half of the country.

The recent U.N. withdrawal² from the dividing zone, which served as a checking-point for traffic and a barrier for those carrying weapons, was stipulated³ during March peace talks in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. These were the most recent in a series of repeated efforts to end the conflict in the world's leading cocoa producer.

Military spokesman, Major Sebastian Caron, says the confidence zone has been replaced by what ONUCI is calling a "green line," made up of 17 observation posts.

"There is no zone of confidence any more in the Ivory Coast from September 15," he said. "Our [new] mission is to observe and give a report to the ONUCI, in order to prevent any harm in movement able to put in danger the peace process in the country."

The extraction of ONUCI forces follows the recent removal of 150 French troops from an airport base outside the administrative⁴ capital, Yamoussoukro. The French force serves as a backup for the peacekeeping mission.

Colonel Xavier Pons, a spokesman for the French military in Ivory Coast, says that the decision to remove troops from the strategic airport was a result of what he describes as subsiding⁵ tensions in the country.

"The political agreements of Ouagadougou, [have brought about ] many positive signs and the situation in this country is more and more quiet, more and more calm," he said. "So we have decided⁶ to pull out troops of Yamoussoukro. It is a good sign for us that the situation is going in a good direction."

Pons says there are still 2,400 French troops stationed in Ivory Coast. He says he believes that number is necessary to ensure the force is able to assist the United Nations. It is less than half of what the French presence once was during the conflict.

The United Nations has not permanently⁷ removed any of its troops, but has reassigned those not needed for the new green zone to other bases in Ivory Coast.

Mixed brigades of rebels and the Ivorian army now patrol zones on the dividing line.

Gilles Yabi, of Brussels-based Crisis Group, says he believes adhering to the Ouagadougou peace talks is important. However, he says that the capacity of the Ivorian mixed units to maintain security of the former confidence zone -- especially in the west, which has historically been violent -- worries him.

"I am not sure that they [Ivorian army] have all the capacity to replace quite efficiently⁸ the U.N. forces on the ground, but at the same time, I think it is essential that there are some clear signs of Ivorian forces taking over the security task," said Yabi. "But the role of the U.N. force and the French force, I think, should remain important until the election."

U.N. spokesman would not comment on ONUCI's long-term plans for the entire country, but says that, in the near future, the green zone is expected to be reduced from 17 to nine observation points and, eventually, cease to exist.

"In two months, we will remove half of the number [of observations points]," he said. "We hope, because it depends also on the context. If everything is fine it will be in two months, so we will see in two months."

Despite this progress, election officials say a twice-delayed presidential poll may not be possible until late 2008.

The former warring sides have yet to make progress on disarmament, reunifying the army and giving nationality and election papers to what rebels say are hundreds of thousands of northerners long treated as second-class citizens.

1 dismantling   

（枪支）分解

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。
• The dismantling of a nuclear reprocessing plant caused a leak of radioactivity yesterday. 昨天拆除核后处理工厂引起了放射物泄漏。

2 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

3 stipulated   

vt.& vi.规定；约定adj.[法]合同规定的

参考例句：

• A delivery date is stipulated in the contract. 合同中规定了交货日期。
• Yes, I think that's what we stipulated. 对呀，我想那是我们所订定的。 来自辞典例句

4 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

5 subsiding   

v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的现在分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上

参考例句：

• The flooded river was subsiding rapidly. 泛滥的河水正在迅速退落。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Gradually the tension was subsiding, gradually the governor was relenting. 风潮渐渐地平息了。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

8 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。