voa标准英语2008-AU Pleads for UN Intervention for Somalia

Africa's top peace and security official is to begin urgent talks on Thursday at the United Nations in an attempt to save Somalia's fragile U.N.-backed administration from collapse¹. The pending² withdrawal³ of Ethiopian troops from Somalia is focusing the attention of the international community and Somalia's fractious political leadership on avoiding a descent into chaos⁵.
　

AU peacekeepers patrol the streets of Mogadishu, (file photo)

African Union Peace and Security Commissioner⁶ Ramtane Lamamra is on a mission to try to persuade the U.N. Security Council to urgently dispatch a peacekeeping mission to Somalia.

The world body withdrew a previous mission in 1995, and Security Council ambassadors have since declined several requests to return the peacekeepers, saying there is no peace to keep in the lawless Horn of Africa nation.

As Lamamra left for New York, AU Commission Chairman Jean Ping urged the world body not to fail the people of Somalia again. He issued a statement calling for the international community to muster⁷ the necessary political will to address the conflict that has been tearing Somalia apart for two decades.

The urgent appeal was prompted by Ethiopia's decision to pull out its troops, which have propped⁸ up Somalia's U.N.-backed transitional government for the past 24 months.
　

Ethiopian troops in Mogadishu, (file photo)

The Ethiopians drove out the Islamic Courts Union from the Somali capital, Mogadishu when they first arrived. But they have since become bogged⁹ down in an increasingly violent war with the Islamists, creating a humanitarian¹⁰ catastrophe¹¹.

AU spokesman El Ghassim Wane¹² said Lamamra will ask the Security Council to take over and strengthen the badly undermanned AU peacekeeping mission.

"He hopes to impress upon all concerned how serious the situation is, and reiterate¹³ the appeal made by the African Union to the U.N. Security Council to act swiftly and to authorize¹⁴ the deployment¹⁵ of a U.N. operation. He will also update them on the needs of the AU, the needs of AMISOM [i.e., the African Union Mission to Somalia], so we can see how to mobilize further support for the mission," he said.

The leaders of Somalia's transitional government are coming under intense pressure to put aside factional feuding¹⁷ and approve a power-sharing deal signed in October with the moderate opposition¹⁸ Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia.

In a hopeful sign, ARS leader Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed returned to Mogadishu, two years after being forced out by the transitional government. News agencies said members of the government were on hand to greet him.

Former Somali ambassador to Ethiopia Abdi Kareem Farah said members of the transitional parliament, many of whom have been living in Nairobi for months, are returning to the provisional capital, Baidoa, for a crucial session on Saturday.

"There are 170 MPs in Baidoa, which is enough to have decisions. Also the remaining parliamentarians, who are in Nairobi, are on their way tomorrow morning to Baidoa. So it will be over 200 parliamentarians in Baidoa by Saturday. So there will be a full session of parliament for the first time in four months. We did not have a cabinet for the last four months due to the disagreement between the prime minister and the president. I hope parliament will take responsibility to put aside differences," he said.

Farah said the hoped-for formation of a unity⁴ government including the opposition faction¹⁶ could provide the stability needed to persuade the United Nations to commit peacekeeping troops to replace the departing Ethiopians. Farah said that if the Security Council fails to act now, it will have to act a year or two from now, when the situation is even worse.
　

Armed fighters from the Al-shabab insurgent19 group outside Mogadishu, Somalia, 08 Dec 2008

Meanwhile, The Associated Press reported that Ethiopian troops were pouring into Somalia in what appears to be a final military offensive before their withdrawal. The AP quoted a Somali military spokesman as saying the Ethiopians were helping²⁰ to rid the country of the militant²¹ Islamist al-Shabab.

Al-Shabab has steadily²² been gaining control over large parts of Somalia in recent weeks. In apparent anticipation²³ of a complete takeover when Ethiopia withdraws, the Shabab was reported to have declared an Islamic state in a southern region of the country this week.

1 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。

2 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

3 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

4 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

5 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

6 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。

7 muster   

v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册

参考例句：

• Go and muster all the men you can find.去集合所有你能找到的人。
• I had to muster my courage up to ask him that question.我必须鼓起勇气向他问那个问题。

8 propped   

支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He sat propped up in the bed by pillows. 他靠着枕头坐在床上。
• This fence should be propped up. 这栅栏该用东西支一支。

9 bogged   

adj.陷于泥沼的v.（使）陷入泥沼， （使）陷入困境( bog的过去式和过去分词 )；妨碍，阻碍

参考例句：

• The professor bogged down in the middle of his speech. 教授的演讲只说了一半便讲不下去了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The tractor is bogged down in the mud. 拖拉机陷入了泥沼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 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。

11 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

12 wane   

n.衰微，亏缺，变弱；v.变小，亏缺，呈下弦

参考例句：

• The moon is on the wane.月亮渐亏。
• Her enthusiasm for him was beginning to wane.她对他的热情在开始减退。

13 reiterate   

v.重申，反复地说

参考例句：

• Let me reiterate that we have absolutely no plans to increase taxation.让我再一次重申我们绝对没有增税的计划。
• I must reiterate that our position on this issue is very clear.我必须重申我们对这一项议题的立场很清楚。

14 authorize   

v.授权，委任；批准，认可

参考例句：

• He said that he needed to get his supervisor to authorize my refund.他说必须让主管人员批准我的退款。
• Only the President could authorize the use of the atomic bomb.只有总统才能授权使用原子弹。

15 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。

16 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

17 feuding   

vi.长期不和（feud的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Riccardo and Cafiero had been feuding so openly that the whole town knew about it. 里卡多和卡菲埃罗一直公开地闹别扭，全城的人都知道此事。 来自辞典例句
• The two families have been feuding with each other for many generations. 这两个家族有好多代的世仇了。 来自互联网

18 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。

19 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

20 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

21 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

22 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

23 anticipation   

n.预期，预料，期望

参考例句：

• We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着，期待她的到来。
• The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安，像是感到了地震即将发生。