VOA标准英语2008年-Somalia Prime Minister Fires Mogadishu Mayor

Somalia's prime minister has fired the influential¹ mayor of the country's capital, Mogadishu. As Derek Kilner reports from VOA's East Africa bureau in Nairobi, Somalia's president has not publicly signed off on the action, raising concerns about growing tensions within the struggling transitional government.

Somalia Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein announced Mohamed Dheere's ouster late Tuesday, after meeting with his cabinet, according to a government spokesman. Dheere, a former warlord close to President Abullahi Yusuf, has been accused of insubordination, and of contributing to a decline in security in the capital.

Dheere has said he is willing to step aside, but that he is waiting for approval from President Yusuf, who has not made any public statements. There are concerns Mr. Yusef could reject the prime minister's decision.

Dheere controls a strong militia² in the capital, which also could complicate³ an effort to remove him against his will. He has served as mayor of Mogadishu, as well as governor of the surrounding Banadir region, since early 2007, presiding over an effort to fight a growing insurgency⁴ led by Islamist militias⁵.

As mayor, Dheere has gained many critics, who accuse him, along with other top security officials in the city, of focusing on harsh tactics that antagonize the population.

The editor of Mogadishu's National Post newspaper, Ahmed Ali Ugaas, says Dheere's removal had been anticipated for several months.

"These people were known to be very arrogant⁶, they were not fully⁷ working for the interest of the government, they were accused to be not working for peace-building in Mogadishu," he said. "So the people were not also believing what these people were saying because of their past history in the country. So this was a decision that people were expecting and waiting."

Ugaas says an improvement in security in Mogadishu depends on who the government picks to succeed Dheere.

"I think the removing of Mohamed Dheere does not itself bring peace to Mogadishu," he said. "It will depend on the subsequent policies pursued by the government. If the next governor becomes a man who pushes the reconciliation⁸ efforts, a main who tries to involve political leaders, tries to involve the clan⁹ elders, tries to involve the leaders of the insurgency. We need to have a different policy from the policy this administration has been pursuing for the past one and a half years."

Dheere's deputy, Mohamed Omar Ali, will serve as acting¹⁰ mayor and governor.

Dheere was part of a group of warlords backed by the United States that was defeated by the Islamic Courts Union, which took control of Mogadishu in 2006. He then joined the country's Transitional Federal Government, which ousted¹¹ the Islamists from control of the capital in December 2006 with the help of Ethiopian troops.

Since then the government has struggled to contain an escalating¹² Iraq-style insurgency centered in Mogadishu. Nearly one million people have been displaced by the fighting, contributing to what the United Nations calls Africa's worst humanitarian¹³ crisis.

Somalia's transitional government has called for an intervention¹⁴ by U.N. peacekeepers. The current African Union force has deployed¹⁵ only 2,200 of its planned 8,000 troops and has done little to quell¹⁶ the violence.

Somalia has been stuck in conflict for nearly 18 years, following the collapse¹⁷ of the central government in 1991.

 

 

1 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

2 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

3 complicate   

vt.使复杂化，使混乱，使难懂

参考例句：

• There is no need to complicate matters.没有必要使问题复杂化。
• These events will greatly complicate the situation.这些事件将使局势变得极其复杂。

4 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

5 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

6 arrogant   

adj.傲慢的，自大的

参考例句：

• You've got to get rid of your arrogant ways.你这骄傲劲儿得好好改改。
• People are waking up that he is arrogant.人们开始认识到他很傲慢。

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

8 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

9 clan   

n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派

参考例句：

• She ranks as my junior in the clan.她的辈分比我小。
• The Chinese Christians,therefore,practically excommunicate themselves from their own clan.所以，中国的基督徒简直是被逐出了自己的家族了。

10 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

11 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

12 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

13 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。

14 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

15 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

16 quell   

v.压制，平息，减轻

参考例句：

• Soldiers were sent in to quell the riots.士兵们被派去平息骚乱。
• The armed force had to be called out to quell violence.不得不出动军队来镇压暴力行动。

17 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。