2006年VOA标准英语-Sudan Upbeat on Talks with Northeastern Rebels

By Lisa Bryant
Paris
14 June 2006

Sudanese women dance with their weapons as they take part in a military exercise in show of power   
  
Sudan's foreign minister says he is optimistic about peace talks opened this week with northeastern rebels. 

Foreign Minister Lam Akol offered an upbeat assessment¹ of the talks taking place in Eritrea between Sudanese government and rebel representatives from northeastern Sudan. He says he is optimistic because he knows already where the two sides stand on matters.  The discussions aim to end a 16-year conflict, one of several that have plagued Sudan in recent decades.

But in wide-ranging remarks to foreign media in Paris, Akol was more guarded when it came to his government's position on a possible U.N. peacekeeping role in another conflict, that of Darfur in western Sudan.

"The government of National Unity's position was very clear when the issue was raised in January of this year, that we are against the coming of U.N. forces under any pretext² while there was no peace agreement in Darfur," he said.  "And that after a peace agreement has arrived, we are ready to discuss as a government with the U.N. on whatever role it would want to play on the implementation³ of the peace process."

Akol also pointed⁴ out that, so far, the United Nations has failed to send the 10,000 peacekeepers it promised to deploy⁵ in southern Sudan to monitor yet another truce⁶. He suggested that should be the U.N.'s first priority.

South African President Thabo Mbeki is expected to visit Sudan next week to urge Khartoum to approve a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Darfur.  The mission would replace an overstretched and under-equipped African Union force trying to monitor a cease-fire there, which is widely ignored.

Reuters reports that a U.N. official in Sudan says U.N. troops would not be able to deploy in Darfur before January of next year.  The conflict in Darfur, pitting Arab Janjaweed militia⁷ against rebel factions⁹, has killed tens of thousands of people, and displaced some two million Sudanese.

The Sudanese government has signed a truce with Darfur's main rebel faction⁸. But leaders of two others want changes in the text, something the Sudanese government has ruled out.

1 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

2 pretext   

n.借口，托词

参考例句：

• He used his headache as a pretext for not going to school.他借口头疼而不去上学。
• He didn't attend that meeting under the pretext of sickness.他以生病为借口，没参加那个会议。

3 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

4 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

5 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

6 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

7 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。

8 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

9 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