2006年VOA标准英语-After Four Years of Mediation, Ivory Coast Peac

By Joe Bavier
Abidjan
25 October 2006
 
Nearly four years into international mediation¹ aimed at reuniting war-divided Ivory Coast, the U.N. Security Council is preparing to pass a new resolution creating another transitional period. Despite the efforts of the international community, political divisions run deep and an end to the conflict seems a long way off.

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The fighting in Ivory Coast erupted between rebels and government forces in September 2002.

By January of the following year, the warring factions² in the country, long viewed as a bastion of stability in the troubled West African region, had signed a peace deal. 

UN peackeepers patrol in western Ivory Coast   
  
French and West African peacekeepers were sent to man a ceasefire line dividing the country in half. A U.N. peacekeeping mission was established. And, aside from a few days of fighting in November 2004, there has been almost no direct fighting between rebels in the north and government forces in the south.

While the international community has been largely successful in stopping the war and avoiding the kind of massive bloodshed witnessed in neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone, reuniting the country has proven more difficult.

After presidential elections scheduled for this month fell through for the second year in a row, the United Nations drafted a new resolution on Ivory Coast.

Security Council members were prepring to vote on it Wednesday.

  
  
A researcher with the International Crisis Group, Gilles Yabi, says much of Ivory Coast's current impasse³ is due the fact that the various peace deals and U.N. resolutions have been consistently vague.

He said, "It is clear that all the lack of clarity in U.N. Security Council resolutions or in other decisions plays into the hands of the conflicting parties."

For nearly four years, he says, the various rival factions have had room to maneuver⁴; avoiding implementing⁵ aspects of the peace process they deem not to be in their interest.

 
Charles Konan Banny
  
The appointment of Charles Konan Banny as the prime minister of a new transitional government following a Security Council resolution passed a year ago had been meant to put an end to that.

The reinforced powers granted him under his new U.N.-backed mandate⁶ were meant to allow him the tools necessary to complete his mission and organize polls. What resulted was a year-long showdown over the Ivorian constitution.
 

Laurent Gbagbo  
  
Supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo rioted in January over a recommendation by international mediators that the expired mandate of the country's parliament, dominated by the presidents allies, should not be renewed.

They again used violent protests to block a program aimed at identifying millions of undocumented Ivorian citizens and foreign nationals, claiming the process was unconstitutional.

The identification scheme, created by the prime minister, had been intended as a first step towards forming new voter rolls. And its blockage⁷, international mediators said, was a main reason elections failed to take place.

The new U.N. resolution would extend President Gbagbo's mandate another 12 months. The extension will be his second, and U.N. Secretary-General Koffi Annan has already said it will be his last.

"The African leaders, they are concerned, especially the neighbors of Cote d'Ivoire. So they are serious, and they will demand discipline this time," said Pierre Schori, who is Mr. Annan's special representative in Ivory Coast.

But as the Security Council vote approaches, political positions in Ivory Coast have hardened.

President Gbagbo and his supporters have warned against a U.N. decision that might undermine the country's constitution.

Meanwhile, the New Forces rebels and major political opposition⁸ parties are calling for the constitution to be suspended entirely⁹. They have refused to budge¹⁰ from their position that a second extension of Mr. Gbagbo's mandate should not be an option, and that the prime minister should take over all power November 1st.

Kandia Camera is deputy secretary-general of the RDR, one of the two main opposition parties.

"You see. That is the problem. In this country's crisis, we should only have one leader, not two leaders," he said. "Above all, if the two leaders cannot work together because they do not have the same aim."

The mounting rhetoric¹¹ on all sides has many people worried that violence is imminent¹², no matter what the United Nations decides.

The ICG's Yabi says that kind of underlying¹³ tension should serve as a reminder¹⁴ to the international community that, despite an end to open fighting, Ivory Coast's conflict is far from over.

"It is clear that society in Ivory Coast is still polarized along political and ethnic¹⁵ lines, and that small events can provoke a massive return to violence in the country," he said. "So it is really time now to be very strict and very strong in the resolution of the crisis."

1 mediation   

n.调解

参考例句：

• The dispute was settled by mediation of the third country. 这场争端通过第三国的斡旋而得以解决。
• The dispute was settled by mediation. 经调解使争端得以解决。

2 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

3 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

4 maneuver   

n.策略[pl.]演习；v.(巧妙)控制；用策略

参考例句：

• All the fighters landed safely on the airport after the military maneuver.在军事演习后，所有战斗机都安全降落在机场上。
• I did get her attention with this maneuver.我用这个策略确实引起了她的注意。

5 implementing   

v.实现( implement的现在分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• -- Implementing a comprehensive drug control strategy. ――实行综合治理的禁毒战略。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• He was in no hurry about implementing his unshakable principle. 他并不急于实行他那不可动摇的原则。 来自辞典例句

6 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

7 blockage   

n.障碍物；封锁

参考例句：

• The logical treatment is to remove this blockage.合理的治疗方法就是清除堵塞物。
• If the blockage worked,they could retreat with dignity.如果封锁发生作用，他们可以体面地撤退。

8 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。

9 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

10 budge   

v.移动一点儿；改变立场

参考例句：

• We tried to lift the rock but it wouldn't budge.我们试图把大石头抬起来，但它连动都没动一下。
• She wouldn't budge on the issue.她在这个问题上不肯让步。

11 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

12 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

13 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

14 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

15 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。