VOA标准英语2009年-AU Leaders Agree to Disagree on Gaddafi's Union

An African Union summit has ended in confusion over the future of Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi's dream of establishing a continental¹ government. Mr. Gaddafi appears determined² to push toward creation of a United States of Africa during his year as AU chairman, despite opposition³ from the continent's most influential⁴ powers.
　
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi (L), escorted by bodyguard⁵ (R), arrives at the AU meeting in Addis Ababa, 01 Feb 2009

Meetings of African leaders usually run two days, but this summit in Addis Ababa dragged into a fourth day with members deadlocked⁶ over AU chairman Gaddafi's proposal for a central administration with sweeping⁷ powers. Most heads of state had departed by the time a compromise was struck that allowed Mr. Gaddafi to declare victory.

"It is a government of the union. It is an authority, a government. There will be secretaries ... coordinators for various policies, like defense⁸ and foreign affairs and defense policies and foreign policies that are divergent and we will coordinate⁹ everything and our defense policies for Africa," the Libyan president said.

Mr. Gaddafi admitted there are deep divisions among member states about his idea, but in a speech to the closing summit session, Mr. Gaddafi outlined a long-term vision of a fully¹⁰ united Africa, under one flag.

"We need the peoples of Africa, traditional forces of women and youth who can use their energies to push us to reach the final phase, which is the United States of Africa, which will be like the United States of America today," he said.

Special meeting planned

Mr. Gaddafi says a special meeting of African foreign ministers will be held in three months to discuss getting the union project off the ground.

But his high-profile optimism covered over the low-key determination of a majority of African leaders to kill, or at least indefinitely postpone¹¹ the creation of a continental government.

Only a handful of heads of state were in the room to hear the Libyan leader's closing remarks. But most of Africa's big powers, such as Egypt, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa are sticking to the position that it will not be a government with sovereign powers for the foreseeable future.

They left it to African Union Commission Chairman Jean Ping to explain to reporters that moving to a union government would be a long-drawn out process.

"The initial purpose was to transform into a government of union, then the member states during their discussions think government has a definition which is precise, and we have not yet reached that stage, and we better move from a commission to an authority," Ping said.

Long process lies ahead

Ping says even the small step of changing the name of the permanent secretariat from a commission to an authority, as agreed at this summit, could take years, because it requires a charter amendment¹² that must be ratified¹³ by two-thirds of the member states.

This summit has left no doubt that Mr. Gaddafi is determined to set the wheels of a union government in motion during his one-year term as AU Chairman. But African diplomats¹⁴ and observers say the name change agreed to at this summit gives opponents of the plan the time they to delay it indefinitely.

1 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

2 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

3 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

4 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。

5 bodyguard   

n.护卫，保镖

参考例句：

• She has to have an armed bodyguard wherever she goes.她不管到哪儿都得有带武器的保镖跟从。
• The big guy standing at his side may be his bodyguard.站在他身旁的那个大个子可能是他的保镖。

6 deadlocked   

陷入僵局的；僵持不下的

参考例句：

• The plan deadlocked over the funds. 这个计划由于经费问题而搁浅了。
• The meeting deadlocked over the wage issue. 会议因工资问题而停顿下来。

7 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

8 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

9 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

10 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。

11 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。

12 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

13 ratified   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准，因此被宣布无效。
• The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。

14 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》