The U.S. ambassador to Kenya has angrily denounced print and broadcast advertisements placed by the government of President Mwai Kibaki, which accuses the United States and other Western countries of contributing to post-election violence in the country. That tension between the government and the opposition is growing.
美国驻肯尼亚大使愤怒驳斥肯尼亚总统齐贝吉的政府在印刷和广播媒体上所作的广告。这项广告指责美国和其它西方国家助长了肯尼亚选举后的暴力活动。肯尼亚政府和反对派之间的紧张关系还在加剧。
In an editorial in the local Daily Nation newspaper, U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Michael Ranneberger strongly protested what he called scurrilous propaganda distributed in recent days by the Kenyan government's Office for Public Communications.
美国驻肯尼亚大使兰恩伯格在当地一家报纸民族日报的评论文章中强烈抗议肯尼亚政府公共通讯处最近几天刊登的广告，他称这些广告是“卑劣的宣传”。
Calling President Mwai Kibaki a man of honor, the ambassador said the Kenyan leader may not have known about the advertisements, which he says irresponsibly claimed that speaking the truth about the country's disputed presidential election provided incitement to ethnic violence.
这位大使称齐贝吉总统是一位有信誉的人。他说，这位肯尼亚领导人可能不知道这些广告的事。他表示，这些广告不负责任地声称披露有争议的总统选举的真相是煽动族裔间的暴力冲突。
The editorial by the U.S. envoy follows another diplomatic dispute between Kenya and Britain. Monday, the Kibaki government summoned the British High Commissioner to voice its anger over remarks last week in the British House of Commons that the country does not recognize Mr. Kibaki as the winner of the December 27 vote.
在这之前，英国和肯尼亚之间发生了一次外交争端。齐贝吉总统的政府星期一召见了英国驻肯尼亚的高级专员，对英国下议院上星期做出的评论表示愤怒。那项评论说，英国并不承认齐贝吉总统在去年12月27号的选举中获胜。
The United States and Britain, which consider Kenya a key regional ally, are among a number of Western and African countries that have expressed concern about serious irregularities in the vote counting process that put Mr. Kibaki back in power by a narrow margin over his rival, Raila Odinga.
美、英两国都把肯尼亚当作它们在非洲地区的重要盟国。美英两国和其它一些西方国家和非洲国家都对这次选举中严重违规的计票过程表示关切。这种做法使齐贝吉以微小的优势战胜了他的对手奥廷加，继续掌权。
Kenya exploded in violence as opposition supporters, who allege that Mr. Kibaki stole the election, took to the streets in protest. The police have been accused of shooting dead scores of demonstrators, following what the opposition calls an unofficial shoot-to-kill policy.
反对派的支持者指责齐贝吉窃取了选举成果，他们走上街头抗议，因此引发了暴力冲突。警方被控射杀了几十名示威者。反对派说那是一种非正式的格杀勿论政策。
The election result also unleashed horrific ethnic bloodletting in the capital and other parts of the country, which the government says was pre-planned by the opposition.
选举的结果也在肯尼亚首都和其它地区引发了恐怖的族裔流血冲突。政府说，这是反对派事先策划的。
The unrest has severely damaged one of the continent's most-promising economies and Kenya's image as a stable, democratic nation in a turbulent region.
Western powers have urged both sides to resolve the crisis through dialogue.
西方国家呼吁双方以对话方式解决这一危机。
Political analyst Wafula Okumu, of the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa, says there are hardliners in the Kibaki government, who may view the West as an obstacle.
南非安全研究所的政治分析家奥库穆说，齐贝吉政府里有一些强硬派，他们可能把西方国家看成绊脚石。
"There is a lot of frustration on the part of the government," Okumu said. "By not being recognized by other countries, that leaves a big question mark on his (Kibaki's) legitimacy. I think the summoning of the British high commissioner, the taking-on of the American ambassador - all these are acts of frustration and they see that there is nothing that is going to come from the international community other than pressure and the pressure, I think, is mounting."
奥库穆说：“政府这边存在很多的不满。由于没有获得其它国家的承认，齐贝吉政府的合法性存在很大的问题。我想，他们召见英国高级专员、找美国大使的麻烦等都是因为这种不满的情绪。而且，他们看到来自国际社会没有别的，只有压力，而且压力正在加大。”
The latest mediation effort to break the political deadlock is being led by former U.N. secretary general Kofi Annan.
前联合国秘书长安南正领导着一项为打破政治僵局而进行的最新调停努力。
The 69-year-old African statesman is also under enormous pressure to produce an agreement that eluded African Union chief, John Kufuor, during his two-day visit earlier this month.
The Kibaki government says it is willing to talk to the opposition, but has dismissed the need for mediators. The government insists all complaints about the election should be addressed through the courts, which is perceived by many Kenyans as being biased toward the government.
齐贝吉政府说，他们愿意与反对派会谈，但是不需要有人进行调解。肯尼亚政府坚持说，所有关于选举的不满都应该通过法庭解决。而许多肯尼亚人认为，法庭会偏向政府一边。
The opposition says it will not back down from its demand for the president's resignation and a rerun of the vote.
反对派说，他们在要求齐贝吉总统辞职和重新举行选举的问题上，不会让步。 |