VOA常速英语2008年-Shi'ites, Sunnis in Baghdad Swap Homes to Avoid

By Deborah Block
Baghdad
15 February 2008

Thousands of people who fled Iraq because of sectarian violence, after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, have been returning in recent months. But the U.N. High Commissioner¹ for Refugees says 2.5 million people are still living outside Iraq and two million others are displaced within the country. VOA's Deborah Block spoke² to displaced people in a Baghdad neighborhood who say Shi'ite and Sunni fighters have used sectarian differences to drive people from their homes and separate Shi'ites and Sunnis who once lived together.

Residents in the western Baghdad neighborhood of Ghazaliya say Sunnis and Shi'ites got along with each other until extremists, including the Sunni al-Qaida in Iraq and the Shi'ite Mahdi Army, came to the area, launching attacks against coalition³ forces and exploiting differences between the two Muslim sects⁴.

Last August, radical⁵ Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr who controls the Mahdi Army, called for a six-month ceasefire, which is to expire later this month. The American military says although the cease-fire has helped reduce violence in Iraq, some members of the Mahdi Army continue to intimidate⁶, kidnap, and kill Iraqi civilians⁷ and security forces, including in Ghazaliya.

Less than a year ago, Ghazaliya was so violent that people could not walk down the street. Now, residents say the neighborhood has become much safer because Iraqi volunteers man checkpoints and U.S. troops continue to capture more Sunni and Shi'ite militants⁸.

But the violence by Shi'ite and Sunni militants has resulted in an exchange of populations in areas that were somewhat mixed, making them more religiously homogeneous.

Samir Karim Mohammed, a Sunni, says Mahdi Army militants threatened to kill his family if they did not leave their mainly Shi'ite neighborhood of Shulla, just north of Ghazaliya. After Mohammed's brother, a Sunni sheik, was killed by militants Mohammed moved his family to a Sunni section of Ghazaliya.

He says he lived in Shulla for 37 years and his family shared everything with his Shi'ite neighbors, including weddings and funerals. They visited each others homes. He says his family even prayed at a Shi'ite mosque⁹

Mohammed formerly¹⁰ worked for Saddam's government and says he owned five homes in Shulla and that the Mahdi Army took over four of them. To save his remaining house, he swapped¹¹ homes with a Shi'ite family.

Ferdos Ali Karam, a Shi'ite math teacher living in Ghazaliya, says she moved a year ago, because al-Qaida in Iraq was threatening Shi'ites in her mainly Sunni area of Ghazaliya. She and her husband exchanged homes with a Sunni family that was living in a Shi'ite part of the neighborhood.

She says insurgents¹² targeted her and her family solely¹³ because they are Shi'ite. She says she keeps in touch with her former Sunni neighbors by phone, because she cannot go and see them.

In an abandoned apartment building in Ghazaliya, Shi'ite squatters have moved in, fleeing sectarian violence in other parts of the capital.

At the entrance, water is dripping onto a sewage trench¹⁴ lined with trash. Hamdia Mihawsh, who is Shi'ite, fled her south Baghdad neighborhood of Dora, which is predominantly Sunni. She now lives with her three children in a cramped¹⁵ apartment in Ghazaliya.

She says a year ago her husband went to the market in Dora and she never saw him again. She says a week earlier, an anonymous¹⁶ flyer was left at their house saying her family must leave in 24 hours or they would be killed.

One week after her husband disappeared, she says she found an empty apartment in Ghazaliya and moved in.

Soon after, a man came to her door demanding $1,200 for the yearly rent, which he said he would give to the owner.

U.S. soldiers who patrol Ghazaliya say apartments and homes in Shi'ite areas of the neighborhood, that have been abandoned by Sunnis, are often taken over by Mahdi Army militants who become the unofficial landlords. The soldiers say Shi'ites find these empty dwellings¹⁷ through Mahdi Army contacts. In Sunni sections, al-Qaida extremists frequently take over empty buildings.

With better security in Ghazaliya and other Baghdad neighborhoods, many displaced persons are considering returning to their homes.

"But no one wants to be the first one to move back into their homes. There is a bunch of Shi'ites who want to move back in the Sunni area and vice¹⁸ versa. It is just, "Well, I want to wait until that guy goes and see what happens to him, and if he is OK, then maybe I will move my family, which is a legitimate¹⁹ concern. Some areas are safer than others, but I do not think they are quite ready," said U.S. Army Lieutenant²⁰ Logan Dick who patrols Ghazaliya.

Many dislocated people in Baghdad complain that the government is doing nothing to help them go back to their homes.

"In some places, the house is occupied by another family, but we have put in a plan to get them to leave in a good way," said Abed Samad Sultan, Iraq's Minister of Displaced Persons and Migration²¹.

He says that means finding another home for displaced families. He admits it will be difficult, because many people are displaced in Baghdad and some homes were damaged or destroyed in the violence. And some families do not have proof of ownership or a rental²² contract.

As people get pushed from one area to another, the relocation of Sunnis and Shi'ites is changing the face of many Baghdad neighborhoods. But, despite this, Sunnis and Shi'ites say they want to go back to their former neighborhoods, where they hope their children will grow up and live in peace.

1 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

4 sects   

n.宗派，教派( sect的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Members of these sects are ruthlessly persecuted and suppressed. 这些教派的成员遭到了残酷的迫害和镇压。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had subdued the religious sects, cleaned up Saigon. 他压服了宗教派别，刷新了西贡的面貌。 来自辞典例句

5 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

6 intimidate   

vt.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• You think you can intimidate people into doing what you want?你以为你可以威胁别人做任何事？
• The first strike capacity is intended mainly to intimidate adversary.第一次攻击的武力主要是用来吓阻敌方的。

7 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

8 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

9 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

10 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

11 swapped   

交换（工作）( swap的过去式和过去分词 )； 用…替换，把…换成，掉换（过来）

参考例句：

• I liked her coat and she liked mine, so we swapped. 我喜欢她的外套，她喜欢我的外套，于是我们就交换了。
• At half-time the manager swapped some of the players around. 经理在半场时把几名队员换下了场。

12 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

13 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

14 trench   

n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕

参考例句：

• The soldiers recaptured their trench.兵士夺回了战壕。
• The troops received orders to trench the outpost.部队接到命令在前哨周围筑壕加强防卫。

15 cramped   

a.狭窄的

参考例句：

• The house was terribly small and cramped, but the agent described it as a bijou residence. 房子十分狭小拥挤，但经纪人却把它说成是小巧别致的住宅。
• working in cramped conditions 在拥挤的环境里工作

16 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

17 dwellings   

n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The development will consist of 66 dwellings and a number of offices. 新建楼区将由66栋住房和一些办公用房组成。
• The hovels which passed for dwellings are being pulled down. 过去用作住室的陋屋正在被拆除。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

19 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

20 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

21 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

22 rental   

n.租赁，出租，出租业

参考例句：

• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
• We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我们可以安排提供从芝加哥奥黑尔机场出发的租车服务。