2006年VOA标准英语-Somalia Leader: Troops 'Firmly in Control' of M

By Alisha Ryu
Nairobi
29 December 2006

Somalia's interim¹ Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi says his secular² government troops and their Ethiopian allies are firmly in control of the capital, Mogadishu, one day after the once-powerful Islamists hastily abandoned the city. VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu has details from our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi.

 
Ali Mohamed Gedi (file photo)

In a telephone interview with VOA shortly before he entered the capital, Prime Minister Gedi says Somali government troops are now headquartered in the former U.S. Embassy compound in western Mogadishu and assessing the security situation.

The interim leader acknowledges that the first priority for his government is to restore stability in the capital. He says he has been given assurances by clan³ elders in Mogadishu that they would switch support of the Islamists to the interim government and help disarm⁴ and re-train hundreds of Islamist militiamen, who found themselves without a job Thursday after the sudden collapse⁵ of the Islamist movement.

 
Somalis watch Ethiopian troops on trucks make their way to the former American Embassy in Mogadishu, 29 Dec 2006
"They are ready to hand over weapons to the government and also the militias⁶ to be trained in camps. So, this is a victory for the Somali people in the country and in particular, the capital city of Mogadishu," he said.

Many Islamist fighters shed their uniforms and sought advice from clan leaders about what to do next. Clan elders form the backbone⁷ of Somali society and are often called upon to intervene in times of crisis.

Mogadishu was thrown into chaos⁸ Thursday when leaders of the Islamist movement, which had controlled the city and large parts of the country for nearly seven months, fled rather than face militarily superior Ethiopian and government troops marching toward the capital.

The Islamists say they withdrew from the capital to avoid civilian⁹ bloodshed. But Gedi says the Islamists, whose leadership is believed to have ties to the al-Qaida terrorist group, gave up because their frontline troops had been decimated during the eight-day, joint¹⁰ Ethiopian and Somali government offensive to reclaim¹¹ territory from the Islamists.

"They were utilizing¹² foreign militants¹⁴ as their allies and those forces have been defeated by the forces of the transitional federal government, in cooperation with forces of Ethiopia," he said.

 
Meles Zenawi (file photo)
On Thursday, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said that a total of 2,000 to 3,000 Islamist fighters had been killed and another 4,000 to 5,000 wounded. But he did not say if any of them were foreigners.

But in recent weeks, Somali experts have estimated that as many as 3,000 foreign fighters may have been in Somalia, invited by several radical¹⁵ leaders of the Islamic Courts Union.

Those leaders are now believed to near the southern port of Kismayo and with their militiamen and members of a militant¹³ Muslim youth group known as the Shaabab.

There is now growing concern that the radical wing of the Islamists movement could now try to wage a guerrilla war, involving car bombings and other acts of terrorism, in Ethiopia and other parts of east Africa.

Prime Minister Gedi's secular interim government was formed two years ago with U.N. backing. But clan rivalries¹⁶ has kept the government weak, unpopular, and for the past year, marooned¹⁷ in the town of Baidoa, 250 kilometers from the capital.

Ethiopia, which feared Somalia would become a fundamentalist state bent¹⁸ on territorial¹⁹ conquest, became the main supporter of the interim government. Despite a long history of bad blood and war between the two countries, the interim government accepted Ethiopian help.

Analysts²⁰ say the government must now assert independent authority or risk being perceived as a puppet to Addis Ababa.

1 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。

2 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。

3 clan   

n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派

参考例句：

• She ranks as my junior in the clan.她的辈分比我小。
• The Chinese Christians,therefore,practically excommunicate themselves from their own clan.所以，中国的基督徒简直是被逐出了自己的家族了。

4 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。

5 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

6 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

7 backbone   

n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气

参考例句：

• The Chinese people have backbone.中国人民有骨气。
• The backbone is an articulate structure.脊椎骨是一种关节相连的结构。

8 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

9 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

10 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

11 reclaim   

v.要求归还，收回；开垦

参考例句：

• I have tried to reclaim my money without success.我没能把钱取回来。
• You must present this ticket when you reclaim your luggage.当你要取回行李时，必须出示这张票子。

12 utilizing   

v.利用，使用( utilize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Utilizing an assembler to produce a machine-language program. 用汇编程序产生机器语言的过程。 来自辞典例句
• The study and use of devices utilizing properties of materials near absolute zero in temperature. 对材料在接近绝对零度时的特性进行研究和利用的学科。 来自辞典例句

13 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。

14 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。

15 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。

16 rivalries   

n.敌对，竞争，对抗( rivalry的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The new government was torn by rivalries. 新政府由于各派对立而四分五裂。 来自辞典例句
• Rivalries could bring about pain and hatred or give rise to fighting. 竞争会带来痛苦、仇恨，或者引起争斗。 来自互联网

17 marooned   

adj.被围困的；孤立无援的；无法脱身的

参考例句：

• During the storm we were marooned in a cabin miles from town. 在风暴中我们被围困在离城数英里的小屋内。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Five couples were marooned in their caravans when the River Avon broke its banks. 埃文河决堤的时候，有5对夫妇被困在了他们的房车里。 来自辞典例句

18 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

19 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

20 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。