2006年VOA标准英语-Somalis Caught in Crossfire Between Warlor

By Alisha Ryu
Mogadishu
01 June 2006

For the past several months in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, militias¹ loyal to secular² factional leaders have been engaged in deadly battles with militias of the country's Islamic courts. Islamic court officials say the conflict is being waged to bring peace to a country devastated³ by factionalism. Factional leaders describe the conflict as an effort to fight terrorism and curb⁴ the growing influence of Islamic extremists in Somalia. But as VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu reports from Mogadishu, both sides have another battle to win -- the battle for the hearts and minds of ordinary Somalis.

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Gunmen in Mogadishu  
  

Another day of fighting has begun in the city of Mogadishu.

It is only mid-morning and casualties are arriving faster than the staff at the Madina Hospital can handle.

Inside the emergency wing, several wounded people, bleeding from the head, arms and legs, are waiting on gurneys -- eyes closed in agony and moaning softly. Almost all of them are women.

The deputy administrator⁵ of the hospital, Ali Moalim, says everyone in the city is fed up with violence, but they are helpless to stop it. "They are killing⁶ students, women, all the people. Fighting without any result, killing each other - no one knows why they are killing each other," he said.

For an entire decade in the 1990s, Somalia was torn apart by a clan-based civil war, which killed untold⁷ thousands, plunged⁸ the country into anarchy⁹, and divided the capital and the country into fiefdoms controlled by rival factional leaders.

Now, the Somali people are in the crossfire¹⁰ of another conflict, pitting a newly formed alliance of rival factional militias against the militias of Islamic law courts, which have been trying to fill the leadership vacuum in Somalia for the past several years.

The courts were set up years ago in the country as moderate Muslim, clan-based institutions, intended to restore security. But because of internal divisions, the courts wielded¹¹ little power. Until recently.

The chairman of the Islamic courts, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, tells VOA that the courts are now supported by the majority of Somalis, who appreciate the work the courts have done in restoring law and order to many areas of the country. He says the courts have also built schools and run various charities to help ordinary Somalis.

Sheikh Sharif Ahmed says people are disgusted with Somali factional leaders, who have done nothing but destroy the country for the past 15 years. He says the Islamic courts are gaining popularity because they represent peace and a better way of life under Islam.

Factional leaders in the anti-terror alliance fighting the Islamic courts have a much different view. While they acknowledge that the militias have done little for the Somali people, they say they are now trying to save them from Islamic extremists, who have taken charge of the courts and are working to turn Somalia into a base for terrorism.

The United States says it shares the concern of the alliance and believes top officials of the Islamic courts may be harboring al-Qaida operatives and setting up terrorist training camps. The United States has not said whether it is supporting factional leaders in the alliance to combat terrorism.

But many Somalis here believe that alliance factional leaders are receiving large sums of money from Washington to fight a proxy¹² war against the Islamic courts. And court officials are not hesitating to use that perception to recruit more followers¹³.

During a speech last week at the recently built Peace Hotel in central Mogadishu, VOA listened as Sheikh Sharif Ahmed told a large audience of men and women that factional leaders and Americans were working together to discredit¹⁴ the Islamic courts and to attack the religion of Islam.

"You must do whatever you can, sell whatever you can, and join us in defending our religion, our country, which is under attack. We must stand together to deter¹⁵ this aggression," the sheikh said.

Despite Somali distaste for factional leaders and foreign intervention¹⁶, it is not clear how many ordinary citizens actually support the Islamic courts. Many Somalis who criticize the United States for helping¹⁷ factional leaders also say privately¹⁸ that they believe the Islamic courts are receiving funding from neighbors and various Arab countries to spread Muslim extremism in Somalia.

Mogadishu-based journalist Mohammed Amin Sheikh Adow discounts concerns Somalis will be attracted by extremism of any form. He says during more than a decade of anarchy, extremism failed to take root in Somalia, not because of counter-terrorism efforts, but because the people themselves reject it. "There is an Islamic movement but I think it will be too difficult to set up an Islamic state in Somalia because people are not so loyal to their religion as they are to the clan," she said.

Back at the Madina Hospital, 21 year-old Zara Mahmoud is waiting nervously¹⁹ for the doctor to treat her wounded sister. Mahmoud says her sister was hit by a stray bullet that came into their house.

Mahmoud says she fears the fighting will result in nothing but more bloodshed because neither side is offering what the Somali people truly want. She says the only thing the people want is a government, not a government that the United States or al-Qaida want, but a government that does good things for the Somali people

1 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

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 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

4 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

5 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

6 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。

7 untold   

adj.数不清的，无数的

参考例句：

• She has done untold damage to our chances.她给我们的机遇造成了不可估量的损害。
• They suffered untold terrors in the dark and huddled together for comfort.他们遭受着黑暗中的难以言传的种种恐怖，因而只好挤在一堆互相壮胆。

8 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

9 anarchy   

n.无政府状态；社会秩序混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• There would be anarchy if we had no police.要是没有警察，社会就会无法无天。
• The country was thrown into a state of anarchy.这国家那时一下子陷入无政府状态。

10 crossfire   

n.被卷进争端

参考例句：

• They say they are caught in the crossfire between the education establishment and the government.他们称自己被卷进了教育机构与政府之间的争端。
• When two industrial giants clash,small companies can get caught in the crossfire.两大工业企业争斗之下，小公司遭受池鱼之殃。

11 wielded   

手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的过去式和过去分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响）

参考例句：

• The bad eggs wielded power, while the good people were oppressed. 坏人当道，好人受气
• He was nominally the leader, but others actually wielded the power. 名义上他是领导者，但实际上是别人掌握实权。

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 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

14 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。

15 deter   

vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住

参考例句：

• Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
• Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。

16 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

17 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。

18 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

19 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。