2006年VOA标准英语-Foreign Fighters Influence Increasing in Somali

By Alisha Ryu
Nairobi
03 October 2006
 

Somali people handle guns, Tuesday, September 26, 2006, at the Arbiska training camp just outside the Somali capital, Mogadishu

In Somalia, recent terrorist attacks in Baidoa and reports of foreigners training and fighting alongside Islamic court militias² have raised serious questions about whether the country's increasingly powerful Islamist leadership poses a threat to regional peace and security.

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Last month's suicide car bombings, which targeted the president of Somalia's U.N.-backed secular⁴ interim⁵ government in Baidoa, shook many Somalis, who had never seen such acts committed on their soil before.

It is still not clear who carried out the unsuccessful assassination⁶ attempt. But interim government leaders blame al-Qaida and its sympathizers inside the Islamic courts.

Islamist leaders in Mogadishu deny any involvement in the attack, but they lost much of their credibility, last week, when Islamists acknowledged foreign fighters linked to al-Qaida helped them seize the strategic southern port city, Kismayo.

In a rare public appearance, the Islamists' top military chief Aden Hashi Ayro, who is believed to have been trained in terrorist training camps in Afghanistan, reportedly told residents in Kismayo that foreign fighters would now be a part of the Islamist militia¹ in Somalia.

A senior analyst⁷ with U.S.-based Power and Interest News Report Michael Weinstein, says, if there were any questions about the existence of radical⁸ hardliners in the Islamic courts, these latest incidents have erased⁹ all doubt.

"The car bombing in Baidoa - and this is not a part of Somali resistance culture - does mean that there has been a change. I am reaching the conclusion that there definitely is what I call an Islamic revolutionary wing," said Weinstein. "I do not like to call them terrorists because terrorism is a tactic¹⁰. But I call them Islamic revolutionaries because I think that is exactly what they are."

Since riding a wave of popular support to oust¹¹ factional leaders in Mogadishu in June, some senior members of Somalia's Islamic courts have been dogged by allegations that their true aim for the country is not to unite it under Islamic sharia law and bring law and order, but to turn Somalia into a haven¹² for Muslim extremism.

In the 1990s, the Islamist group's supreme¹³ leader, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, headed a militant¹⁴ Somali Islamic organization called al-Itiyaad al-Islamiya, which is believed to have received support from al-Qaida. Aweys is still on a U.S. list of terror suspects.

In recent months, young militants¹⁵ in Mogadishu, loyal to Islamist military chief Aden Hashi Ayro, have formed a shadowy extremist group known as "Shaabab." Shaabab's exact role is unclear, but many people in the capital say members were hand-picked by Ayro and are being trained, possibly by foreigners, to carry out terrorist acts.

If al-Qaida fighters are operating in Somalia, it would not be the first time.

In 1993, 18 U.S. Army Rangers¹⁶ were killed in a battle in Mogadishu, after Somalis shot down two Blackhawk helicopters. Three years later, al-Qaida leader Osama bin³ Laden¹⁷ boasted that some of his fighters fought alongside Somali factional militiamen.

But Michael Weinstein says al-Qaida's reported involvement in Somalia now poses a much greater threat.

"I think it is more serious of a problem than it was then because you are carrying along a lot of popular support with this [Islamist] movement, which can allow it to provide cover for more international revolutionary elements," he said.

Meanwhile, reports of foreign fighters from Afghanistan, Pakistan and other Muslim countries streaming into Somalia are causing anxiety for ordinary Somalis, neighboring countries and the West. In a report to the United Nations Security Council last week, a U.N. monitoring team stated that it had received reports of Afghanistan's Taleban fighters being trained in Somalia.

In an interview with VOA in May, the then-chairman of the Islamic Courts Union, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, vehemently¹⁸ denied the presence of any foreign fighters in Somalia and said that none would ever be welcomed by the courts.

Italy's special envoy¹⁹ to Somalia, Mario Raffaelli, says it is possible what Ahmed said may have been sincere. He says he believes the Islamic court has never been a unified²⁰ group - split internally among moderates who follow Ahmed and hardliners allied²¹ with Aweys.

"We knew this from the beginning," he said. "It was very clear that the Islamist movement in Mogadishu was made up of different components²² and these people, the Shaabab people, are probably the most radical in the movement."

Nairobi-based regional analyst Matt Bryden says he believes the internal battle is intensifying²³ and it is still far from clear which side will emerge as the victor.

"The courts themselves are in a process of transition and reorganization and this process is still playing itself out," said Bryden. "I think we will not have a clear idea of how they are organized and who their leaders are going to be at various levels for several more weeks."

Analysts²⁴ say an important factor that may influence, if not decide, the outcome of the power struggle is the Somali people themselves.

Many Somalis have deep roots in the traditionally liberal practices of Sunni Islam. Thousands of Somalis in Kismayo and elsewhere in the country have protested against the harsh, ultra-conservative Wahabi brand of Islam being imposed on them by some leaders in the courts.

1 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

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 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

4 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

5 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

6 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

7 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

8 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

9 erased   

v.擦掉( erase的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• He erased the wrong answer and wrote in the right one. 他擦去了错误答案，写上了正确答案。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He removed the dogmatism from politics; he erased the party line. 他根除了政治中的教条主义，消除了政党界限。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

11 oust   

vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐

参考例句：

• The committee wanted to oust him from the union.委员会想把他从工会中驱逐出去。
• The leaders have been ousted from power by nationalists.这些领导人被民族主义者赶下了台。

12 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

13 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

14 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。

15 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

16 rangers   

护林者( ranger的名词复数 )； 突击队员

参考例句：

• Do you know where the Rangers Stadium is? 你知道Rangers体育场在哪吗？ 来自超越目标英语 第3册
• Now I'm a Rangers' fan, so I like to be near the stadium. 现在我是Rangers的爱好者，所以我想离体育场近一点。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

17 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

18 vehemently   

adv. 热烈地

参考例句：

• He argued with his wife so vehemently that he talked himself hoarse. 他和妻子争论得很激烈，以致讲话的声音都嘶哑了。
• Both women vehemently deny the charges against them. 两名妇女都激烈地否认了对她们的指控。

19 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

20 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

21 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

22 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

23 intensifying   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的现在分词 )；增辉

参考例句：

• The allies are intensifying their air campaign. 联军部队正加大他们的空战强度。 来自辞典例句
• The rest of the European powers were in a state of intensifying congestion. 其余的欧洲强国则处于越来越拥挤的状态。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史

24 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。