VOA常速英语2008年-UN Security Council Urges Speedy Deployment of

By Margaret Besheer
United Nations
11 March 2008

The U.N. Security Council has expressed deep concern about the situation in the Darfur region of the Sudan, where violence has surged recently, and has called for all parties to observe a cease-fire.  From U.N. headquarters in New York, VOA's Margaret Besheer has more.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin who is president of the Security Council this month, said members reiterated¹ the need for the speedy deployment³ of the U.N.-African Union hybrid⁴ force known as UNAMID and underlined the importance of promoting the peace process in Darfur.

"The members of the Security Council expressed profound concern about the continuing complex security and humanitarian⁵ situation in Darfur," he said.  "They urged in this context, all Sudanese parties to observe the cease-fire, refrain from any hostilities⁶ and respect the norms of international humanitarian law."

The council was briefed by U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping, Edmond Mulet, who warned that the recent surge in Sudanese government air strikes and rebel attacks demonstrates a lack of commitment on either side for peace talks.

"On the one hand, negotiations⁷ are required to bring this crisis to an end, but with the government intent on military action and the rebels either fighting or fragmenting, it is difficult to see an opening for political negotiations," he said.  "On the other hand, a peacekeeping operation alone cannot bring security to Darfur."

He added that the peacekeeping operation cannot be a substitute for political engagement, and is not a tool for addressing the causes of the conflict.

The Sudanese government has been partly blamed for the latest upsurge in fighting, including a large-scale ground and air campaign aimed at reestablishing its control over parts of West Darfur under rebel control.  Sudanese Ambassador Abdalmahmood Mohamad defended the strikes, saying Khartoum is protecting its people from the rebels.

"We are doing the responsibility any state should do when confronted with a rebellion activities, attacks on civilians," he said.  "These attacks will continue.  These attacks will continue as long as the rebels are threatening the people, are killing⁸ the people."

The council urged all parties to refrain from violence, and Ambassador Churkin, speaking in his national capacity, said Moscow has raised the subject of sanctions against parties that are blocking the peace process.

More than 9,000 international military and police personnel are in Darfur.  The United Nations says in the coming weeks several more units will deploy², including an Egyptian transport unit, a Nigerian medical unit as well as regular troops from Egypt and Ethiopia.

Deployment of troops has been slowed by Sudanese objections to the composition of the force and also by a lack of equipment, such as helicopters.  The United Nations hopes to have 26,000 troops and police on the ground in Darfur.

1 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

2 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

3 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

4 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

5 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

6 hostilities   

n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事

参考例句：

• Mexico called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. 墨西哥要求立即停止敌对行动。
• All the old hostilities resurfaced when they met again. 他们再次碰面时，过去的种种敌意又都冒了出来。

7 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。

8 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。