IN THE NEWS - Sudan Update

IN THE NEWS - Sudan Update
By Jerilyn Watson

Broadcast: Saturday, August 07, 2004

This is Steve Ember with In the News, in VOA Special English.

The United Nations is preparing to send a team of human rights observers to Sudan. Eight observers are expected in the capital on Sunday. Plans call for six of them to leave Khartoum and go to the Darfur area in western Sudan. The U.N. team will supervise efforts to disarm¹ the pro-government groups known as the Janjaweed militias².

Sudan and the United Nations signed an agreement this week about disarming³ the Arab fighters. The observers are to tell U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan if Sudan is making progress to improve security in Darfur. On Thursday, President Bush approved ninety-five million dollars in humanitarian⁴ aid.

 
Sudanese refugees.
The United Nations says tens of thousands of people have been killed in Darfur in the past eighteen months. More than one million are homeless. Almost two hundred thousand have fled across the border into Chad. The United Nations has described the situation in Darfur as ethnic⁵ cleansing⁶.

Fighting began in February of last year between the Janjaweed and two rebel groups of black African Muslims. The Sudanese government has denied that it supports the Arab fighters.

But a U.N. investigator⁷ says there is no question that the government of Sudan is responsible for the killings⁹ of "large numbers of people." Asma Jahangir of Pakistan visited Sudan in June; she presented a report on Friday. She says there is great evidence that government forces and government-supported militias carried out the killing⁸ together. She says killings have also taken place in Upper Nile State.

The U.N. investigator says the government is also largely responsible for the current humanitarian situation in Darfur. She says millions of people are at risk. She says many will likely die in the months to come from starvation or disease.

Last week the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution that called on the government to disarm the Janajweed within thirty days. If not, the resolution says Sudan is to face international action, but it does not say what kind. Some diplomats¹⁰ criticized the resolution as not strong enough.

This week, thousands of Sudanese marched to the U.N. offices in Khartoum to protest the resolution. News reports said the government organized the protest.

The African Union may increase its troop strength in Sudan to as many as two thousand peacekeepers. Three hundred soldiers are in Sudan now to enforce a cease-fire between the government and rebels in the south. Most people in the south are Christian¹¹ or animist. The cease-fire comes after more than twenty years of civil war.

Poor farmers in Darfur rebelled after the government agreed to share power and oil profits with the south in the future. The people of Darfur demanded the same treatment.

In the News, in VOA Special English, was written by Jerilyn Watson. This is Steve Ember.

1 disarm   

v.解除武装，回复平常的编制，缓和

参考例句：

• The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. 全世界等待伊拉克解除武装已有12年之久。
• He has rejected every peaceful opportunity offered to him to disarm.他已经拒绝了所有能和平缴械的机会。

2 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

3 disarming   

adj.消除敌意的，使人消气的v.裁军( disarm的现在分词 )；使息怒

参考例句：

• He flashed her a disarming smile. 他朝她笑了一下，让她消消气。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We will agree to disarming troops and leaving their weapons at military positions. 我们将同意解除军队的武装并把武器留在军事阵地。 来自辞典例句

4 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。

5 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

6 cleansing   

n. 净化(垃圾) adj. 清洁用的 动词cleanse的现在分词

参考例句：

• medicated cleansing pads for sensitive skin 敏感皮肤药物清洗棉
• Soap is not the only cleansing agent. 肥皂并不是唯一的清洁剂。

7 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

8 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

9 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

10 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》

11 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。