VOA标准英语2009年-Sudan Government, Rebels Set to Start Talks in

Representatives of Sudan's Justice and Equality rebel movement are set to begin discussions with the Sudanese government this week in Qatar, in a bid to revive a peace process for the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region. Rebel representatives have been meeting with Egyptian officials in Cairo before the Qatar talks.
　
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, left, is flanked by African delegates as he attends a Turkey-Africa Cooperation meeting in Istanbul (File)

Officials from the Sudanese government and the rebel Justice and Equality Movement, known as JEM, have begun to arrive in the Qatari capital, Doha.

JEM's head of training and strategic planning, Abdullahi Osman El-Tom told VOA from Ireland that rebel representatives were still meeting with Egyptian officials in Cairo, and that discussions in Qatar were to begin Tuesday.

The negotiations¹, which will be attended by the joint² U.N.-AU mediator³, Djibril Bassolé, represent the latest attempt to revive the stalled peace process for the Darfur conflict. JEM, along with most other rebel factions⁴, rejected a 2006 peace agreement, and the group boycotted⁵ negotiations held in 2007 in Libya.

The Justice and Equality Movement will be represented in Qatar by Djibril Ibrahim, an advisor⁶ to the group's leader, Khalil Ibrahim, and the government side by Nafi'e al Nafi'e, an advisor to President Omar al-Bashir. El-Tom said the discussions are simply a first step to re-establish contact between the two sides.

"We want to meet the other side, that is the government party, just an ice breaker. And then we will try to schedule ways of how to move forward, but the agenda is more or less open," he said. "But the most important thing is to focus on putting an end to the violence in Darfur and improving the situation of the IDPs and refugees."

None of Darfur's numerous other rebel groups will be represented, including factions of the Sudan Liberation Movement.

JEM, which has recently been the most active group militarily, has criticized previous efforts at negotiations for involving too many marginal players. But some observers worry that a process that does not involve at least some of the other more prominent factions will have limited effectiveness.

The discussions follow renewed fighting in Darfur between JEM and government troops.

Last week, government forces retook the town of Muhajeriya in South Darfur, following several days of bombing. JEM had captured the town in January. El-Tom says that the government has continued bombing raids in other parts of Darfur in recent days, and that efforts to stop the latest clashes would be among the issues discussed in Qatar.

In Cairo, JEM representatives met with Egyptian officials about a possible role for Egypt, which borders Sudan to the north, in future negotiations. Egypt is also sending its foreign minister and intelligence chief to Sudan this week.

The discussions will likely include the possible arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court for President Bashir on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.

1 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。

2 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

3 mediator   

n.调解人，中介人

参考例句：

• He always takes the role of a mediator in any dispute.他总是在争论中充当调停人的角色。
• He will appear in the role of mediator.他将出演调停者。

4 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

5 boycotted   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Athletes from several countries boycotted the Olympic Games. 有好几国的运动员抵制奥林匹克运动会。
• The opposition party earlier boycotted the Diet agenda, demanding Miyaji's resignation. 反对党曾杯葛国会议程，要宫路下台。

6 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。