2007年VOA标准英语-Interim Somali Government Tries to Stabilize Ca

By Alisha Ryu
Mogadishu
04 January 2007

In the post-Islamist Somali capital Mogadishu, a deadline for the city's militias¹ and residents to voluntarily hand in their weapons has been largely ignored.  As VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu reports from Mogadishu, officials of the country's interim² government acknowledge they only have a short time to establish their authority before Ethiopian troops, who are keeping a lid on violence in the tense city, withdraw.

On Monday, Somali interim Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi threatened to use force, if all of the arms in this gun-infested city were not turned in voluntarily.  But as the government deadline loomed³, only a few weapons could be seen at various gun collection centers in Mogadishu.

Heavily-armed Transitional Federal Government soldiers patrol streets of Mogadishu,  4 Jan 2007

Prime Minister Gedi says he is hopeful that government troops will not have to go door-to-door to disarm⁴ the capital.

"Primarily, the weapons are kept by the business people, some warlords, and sub-clans, in addition to individuals," he said.  "Except for freelance militias, the other stakeholders are ready to cooperate and hand over to the government.  But moving the weapons from their sites to the collection centers can be problematic for them.  So, they are requesting us to go to take these weapons to the collection centers."

A successful disarmament effort could mark a major turning point for the two-year-old, internationally recognized-but-weak interim government.  Until a week ago, it had virtually no influence outside of its base in the provincial⁵ town of Baidoa, 250 kilometers from Mogadishu. 

Factional leaders and members of parliament Mohamed Qanare Afrah and Mohamed Dheere, who formed the core of a U.S.-backed, anti-terror alliance defeated by the Islamists in June, are reportedly determined⁶ to re-arm their militias.  Sources tell VOA the two warlords are now the main customers of gun dealers⁷ in Mogadishu's notorious weapons market.

Following key Ethiopian-led military victories over the country's once-powerful Islamist forces, Somali interim-government leaders entered the capital for the first time last week, vowing⁸ to restore a secular⁹, central government in Somalia as soon as possible.

The country has been without a functioning government since 1991, when factional leaders overthrew¹⁰ dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and carved up Mogadishu and the rest of the country into personal fiefdoms. 

The chaos¹¹ and instability under factional rule gave rise to the Islamic Courts group, which seized power in Mogadishu seven months ago and brought a degree of stability to the country by installing strict Islamic laws called sharia. 

But the Islamist leadership strengthened ties with militant¹² terrorist organizations, which alarmed the West, caused the movement to lose popular support, and prompted Ethiopia to intervene.  

A Supreme¹³ Court judge in the interim administration, Mohammed Hassan Saeed, tells VOA that because what Somalis want most is security, it is imperative¹⁴ for the government to act quickly to create an effective court system.

"We cannot accept a vacuum and a lapse¹⁵ of the judiciary would mean some tribal¹⁶ or other courts may crop up," he said. "So, we do not want to give that opportunity."
 
Judge Saeed and Prime Minister Gedi attended the swearing-in ceremony for more than a dozen secular judges, who will preside in courtrooms abandoned by the Islamists.  

Saeed says most of the new judges had been lawyers and judges during the regime of Mohamed Siad Barre, and recently received two months of legal re-training in Baidoa. 

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 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。

3 loomed   

v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• A dark shape loomed up ahead of us. 一个黑糊糊的影子隐隐出现在我们的前面。
• The prospect of war loomed large in everyone's mind. 战事将起的庞大阴影占据每个人的心。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 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。

6 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

7 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

8 vowing   

起誓，发誓（vow的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild its collapsed bridge. 布什总统承诺将帮助明尼阿波利斯重建坍塌的大桥。
• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild this collapse bridge. 布什总统发誓要帮助明尼阿波利斯重建起这座坍塌的桥梁。

9 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。

10 overthrew   

overthrow的过去式

参考例句：

• The people finally rose up and overthrew the reactionary regime. 人们终于起来把反动的政权推翻了。
• They overthrew their King. 他们推翻了国王。

11 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。

12 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。

13 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

14 imperative   

n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的

参考例句：

• He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
• The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。

15 lapse   

n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效

参考例句：

• The incident was being seen as a serious security lapse.这一事故被看作是一次严重的安全疏忽。
• I had a lapse of memory.我记错了。

16 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。