2006年VOA标准英语-Kenya's Muslim Leaders Deny Somali Islamists Re

By Alisha Ryu
Nairobi
06 December 2006

As fear mounts of an all-out war in Somalia which could drag in neighboring countries, Muslim leaders in Kenya are denying allegations that Somali Islamists are actively¹ recruiting young ethnically-Somali Kenyans in the northeastern part of the country into their movement. VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu reports from our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi.

Allegations of recruitment by Somali Islamists in Kenya's Northeastern Province first surfaced about a month ago, when the provincial³ commissioner⁴, Kiritu Wamae, revealed that he had a list of local youths, who had been recruited for what he called a "holy war" in Somalia to unite all ethnic² Somalis in the region under Islamic law.

Wamae said that the Kenyan government was aware of the recruitment activity taking place in Garissa, near the Somali border.

On Wednesday, a top-ranking Kenyan Muslim leader al-Haj Yusuf Murigu alleged⁵ that the Kenyan government is helping⁶ its ally in the war on terror, the United States, to discredit⁷ Somalia's Islamist movement.

"Somebody brought propaganda, emanating⁸ from America, that they [Islamists] are recruiting young people to fight, but that is not true," he said. "These are rumors⁹, just hype so that people can fight. Our young people, they are too busy looking for their food, hand-to-mouth. They have no time for war."

Since the Islamists in Somalia took power in the capital Mogadishu in June, Kenya, along with neighbors Ethiopia and Uganda, have expressed growing concern about the Islamists' rapid expansion into much of southern and central Somalia.

Somali Islamist leaders, some of whom are accused of having deep ties to terrorist groups like al-Qaida, have installed strict clerical rule in the areas they control and have sidelined the country's U.N.-backed-but-virtually-powerless interim¹⁰ government, based in the town of Baidoa.

The interim government's chief sponsor, Ethiopia, is believed to have sent thousands of troops into Somalia to halt the Islamists' expansion.

 

Ethiopia's rival in the region, Eritrea, is believed to have also sent its troops to back the Islamist movement, raising fears that a bloody¹¹ proxy¹² war could erupt in Somalia.

Last week, Muslim leaders here warned the Kenyan government against allowing foreign militaries to use the country as a staging ground for war against the Islamists. The warning came after Ethiopian tanks allegedly moved through Kenya's Northeastern Province.

Al-Haj Yusuf Murigu says residents there are now seeing movements of American troops and military vehicles - a situation, which he says is creating fear and suspicion.

"We are quite unhappy. We know that America has a bone to pick with Somalia but for us, it is not good, and we want to tell them and our government that we would like them to stop using our country," he said.

A Kenyan Defense¹³ Department spokesman, Bogita Ongeri, says U.S. troops in Garissa are only engaged in improving local infrastructure¹⁴ and facilities, continuing the work they have been doing in Kenya and elsewhere in the region for the past several years.

"We have some Americans working jointly¹⁵ with our Kenyan military engineers, providing civil aid, drilling bore holes. They are our partners in development," he said.

Last Friday, the United States introduced a U.N. resolution to ease a 1992 weapons embargo¹⁶ on Somalia, which would allow the deployment¹⁷ of armed regional peacekeepers. The Islamists say they will summon foreign fighters throughout the Muslim world to fight the troops, if they are sent to Somalia.

1 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

2 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。

3 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

4 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。

5 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

6 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。

7 discredit   

vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑

参考例句：

• Their behaviour has bought discredit on English football.他们的行为败坏了英国足球运动的声誉。
• They no longer try to discredit the technology itself.他们不再试图怀疑这种技术本身。

8 emanating   

v.从…处传出，传出( emanate的现在分词 )；产生，表现，显示

参考例句：

• Even so, there is a slight odour of potpourri emanating from Longfellow. 纵然如此，也还是可以闻到来自朗费罗的一种轻微的杂烩的味道。 来自辞典例句
• Many surface waters, particularly those emanating from swampy areas, are often colored to the extent. 许多地表水，特别是由沼泽地区流出的地表水常常染上一定程度的颜色。 来自辞典例句

9 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 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。

11 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

12 proxy   

n.代理权，代表权；（对代理人的）委托书；代理人

参考例句：

• You may appoint a proxy to vote for you.你可以委托他人代你投票。
• We enclose a form of proxy for use at the Annual General Meeting.我们附上委任年度大会代表的表格。

13 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

14 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

15 jointly   

ad.联合地，共同地

参考例句：

• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。
• She owns the house jointly with her husband. 她和丈夫共同拥有这所房子。

16 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。

17 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。