2006年VOA标准英语-AU Summit Extends Peacekeeping in Darfur

By Franz Wild
Abidjan
03 July 2006

African leaders meeting at an African Union summit in Gambia on Sunday agreed to extend the mandate¹ of their peacekeepers in Sudan's Darfur region until at least December.  The summit also endorsed² Senegal's decision to try Chad's former  dictator Hissene Habre on war crimes charges.   

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Kofi Annan , Secretary General of U.N speaks to journalists at the venue³ of the African Union Summit in Banjul, Gambia Sunday, July 2, 2006  
  
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan failed to convince Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir to allow U.N. peacekeepers to replace the seven-thousand AU forces trying to protect civilians⁴ in Sudan's western Darfur region till September.   Sudan maintains it does not need an international intervention⁵ by the U.N. 

But Mr. Annan,  speaking on the last day of the summit Sunday,  said the talks with Sudan will continue. He said is optimistic U.N. peacekeepers in time will be deployed⁶ in Darfur.

"I, of course, will continue to press for the eventual⁷ deployment⁸ of U.N. forces in Darfur. On this point we agreed that the dialogue had to continue," Mr.  Annan says.  "In the meantime, President Bashir said he would prepare a plan for the next six months, which he would submit to me by the end of the month."

Meanwhile, AU leaders agreed to a United Nations request to extend the AU peacekeeping operations in Darfur until the end of the year.

In a separate development, the AU leaders endorsed Senegal's decision to try former Chadian President Hissene Habre  in Senegal where he has been living in exile since being deposed⁹ in 1990.

Habre's regime was accused by a Chadian truth commission of killing¹⁰ tens of thousands of people during its eight years in power.

Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade¹¹ said he will ask parliament to change the nation's  law so that Habre can be tried in Senegal.  It is unclear when the actual trial will begin.

But human rights campaigners welcomed the news. Human Rights Watch's Reed Brody told reporters this is a major achievement for justice.

"I think this is a victory of law over politics. You have two legal bodies, one the U.N. Committee against Torture, and the other this expert panel from the African Union, who have both said to Senegal 'Look, this is your responsibility. You signed the torture convention," Brody says. "You ratified¹² it and said if an alleged¹³ torturer came onto your territory, you would not give that person safe haven¹⁴.' Hissene Habre is a man accused of systematic¹⁵ torture, of thousands of political killings¹⁶, of campaigns of ethnic¹⁷ cleansing¹⁸. And what the African leaders said today is someone like that has to be brought to justice."

Mr.  Annan also said at the AU summit  he will travel to war-divided Ivory Coast Wednesday to hold talks with President Laurent Gbagbo.   Under a U.N.-backed agreement,  Ivory Coast is supposed to hold elections in October,  but many U.N.-staff members privately¹⁹ express skepticism the elections will take place as scheduled.

1 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。

2 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

4 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

5 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。

6 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

7 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

8 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。

9 deposed   

v.罢免( depose的过去式和过去分词 )；（在法庭上）宣誓作证

参考例句：

• The president was deposed in a military coup. 总统在军事政变中被废黜。
• The head of state was deposed by the army. 国家元首被军队罢免了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 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。

11 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

12 ratified   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准，因此被宣布无效。
• The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。

13 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

14 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

15 systematic   

adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的

参考例句：

• The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
• The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。

16 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

17 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。

18 cleansing   

n. 净化(垃圾) adj. 清洁用的 动词cleanse的现在分词

参考例句：

• medicated cleansing pads for sensitive skin 敏感皮肤药物清洗棉
• Soap is not the only cleansing agent. 肥皂并不是唯一的清洁剂。

19 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。