2007年VOA标准英语-Eritrea says US Support Encourages Ethiopian Ag

By Alisha Ryu
Nairobi
26 September 2007

A senior Eritrean official says U.S. support for Ethiopia as an anti-terror ally is encouraging the regional giant to take an aggressive stance against Eritrea. The statement follows a threat Tuesday by Ethiopia to terminate a peace agreement that ended a two-year border war with Eritrea in 2000. VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu has details in our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi.

The Ethiopian warning that it may terminate or suspend the peace accord came in a letter, written by Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin, to his Eritrean counterpart.

Foreign Minister Seyoum says Ethiopia is being forced to consider the option because of provocative¹ actions taken by the Eritrean government in Asmara. He says they include sending Eritrean troops into what is supposed to be a 25-kilometer neutral buffer² zone along their shared 1,000-kilometer border, and coordinating³ terrorist activities to destabilize the region.

In a telephone interview with VOA, Eritrean Presidential Spokesman Yemane Gebremeskel blamed the government in Addis Ababa for keeping tensions high.

"They occupy sovereign Eritrean territory in violation⁴ of international law," said Gebremeskel. "They continue to reject the arbitration⁵ decision. You have to address the question to Ethiopia, what do they want to achieve at the end of the day?"

The 2000 peace accord required Ethiopia and Eritrea to abide⁶ by an independent ruling on the demarcation of the border. In 2002, a U.N. boundary panel granted the flashpoint border town of Badme to Eritea, but Ethiopia refused to accept the ruling.

The panel has warned that the 2002 ruling will stand if the dispute cannot be resolved by November, when the panel is to be dissolved.

Eritrea complains that the United States has not put enough pressure on Ethiopia to accept the new border, because Washington considers Addis Ababa a strategic ally in its fight against terrorism.

Earlier this month, the top U.S. diplomat⁷ for Africa, Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer, urged both Horn of Africa leaders to do more to ease tensions in the region. But she has also been vocal⁸ in her criticism of Eritrea, which the United States and the United Nations believe is funding and arming anti-Ethiopian rebels, including Somali Islamist insurgents⁹ fighting Ethiopian forces in Mogadishu.

Eritrean presidential spokesman Gebremeskel says such accusations¹⁰ are lies spread by Ethiopia to isolate¹¹ Eritrea.

"If you are talking about destabilization, it is Ethiopia which has invaded Somalia," he said. "Ethiopia is doing these violations¹² because it has tacit support of major powers. They have the support of Washington. That is the main problem."

Horn of Africa observers are voicing concern that the on-going dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea could result in another border war, which they say is likely to spill over into other parts of the region.

 

The border war between 1998 and 2000 killed 70,000 people in Eritrea and Ethiopia and displaced nearly 1.5 million others.

1 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。

2 buffer   

n.起缓冲作用的人(或物)，缓冲器；vt.缓冲

参考例句：

• A little money can be a useful buffer in time of need.在急需时，很少一点钱就能解燃眉之急。
• Romantic love will buffer you against life's hardships.浪漫的爱会减轻生活的艰辛。

3 coordinating   

v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的现在分词 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• He abolished the Operations Coordinating Board and the Planning Board. 他废除了行动协调委员会和计划委员会。 来自辞典例句
• He's coordinating the wedding, and then we're not going to invite him? 他是来协调婚礼的，难道我们不去请他？ 来自电影对白

4 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。

5 arbitration   

n.调停，仲裁

参考例句：

• The wage disagreement is under arbitration.工资纠纷正在仲裁中。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding.双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

6 abide   

vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受

参考例句：

• You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。
• If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部，你就得遵守它的规章。

7 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

8 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

9 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

10 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

11 isolate   

vt.使孤立，隔离

参考例句：

• Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。
• We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。

12 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。