2007年VOA标准英语-Somalia's Interim Leader Agrees With US Strike

By Alisha Ryu
Nairobi
09 January 2007

Interim1 Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed (R) with his PM Ali Mohamed Gedi during a media briefing in Mogadishu, 09 Jan 2007" hspace="2" src="http://www.wwenglish.com/up/2007/01/16074/3.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

Interim Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed (R) with his PM Ali Mohamed Gedi during a media briefing in Mogadishu, 09 Jan 2007

Somalia's interim president say a U.S. strike late Monday on al-Qaida hideouts in his country was the right thing to do. VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu in our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi reports the air strike targeted several al-Qaida operatives involved in the 1998 bombings of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Speaking to Somali reporters in Mogadishu, interim President Abdullahi Yusuf said al-Qaida terrorists had been using the lawless Horn of African country as a safe haven² and a base for their operations for years.

He said he did not blame the United States for taking action against them.

Yusuf says the United States had a right to attack the men, who carried out the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam and who are now on the run. He says the same men were probably also involved in the bombing of an Israeli-owned hotel in the Kenyan coastal³ town of Mombasa in 2002.

Somali sources in the southern port of Kismayo tell VOA that an AC-130 airplane attacked at least two villages Monday night near the southern-most tip of Somalia, near the Kenyan border. The U.S. Air Force Special Operations gunship is capable of firing thousands of rounds per second and can flatten⁴ a building in minutes.

Witnesses and Somali government officials say many people were killed in the attack, but the exact numbers of dead and wounded were not immediately known.

It is also not yet clear who the intended targets were.

Somali government officials have recently said that several radical⁵ leaders of Somalia's ousted⁶ Islamist movement and the three al-Qaida men wanted by the United States - Sudanese Abu Taha al-Sudani, Kenyan Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, and Comoros native Fazul Abdullah Mohammed - were believed to be hiding in the vicinity of the southern Islamist stronghold of Ras Kamboni. They fled there after abandoning Mogadishu on December 27, before advancing Somali government and Ethiopian troops reached the capital.

The interim-government defense⁷ minister said Monday that his troops fought a fierce two-day battle against Islamist fighters near Ras Kamboni and were poised⁸ to take it.

Last week, Kenya sealed its border with Somalia and the U.S. Navy sent three warships⁹ to patrol the coast to prevent al-Qaida and its Somali Islamist allies from fleeing the area.

In a possible indication that more intensive military operations against al-Qaida may soon begin in Somalia, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet Commader Kevin Aandahl says the Naval¹⁰ Carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower has also been deployed¹¹ in the Horn.

"They are now operating off the coast of Somalia," he said. "This is a prudent¹² step being employed to deter¹³ individuals that have links to al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations, to deny them the use of the sea as an escape route."

Late last month, troops loyal to the U.N.-recognized Somali interim government and Ethiopia's military drove out Somalia's Islamist leaders, who had controlled large parts of the country for nearly seven months. The islamists are accused of having deep ties with anti-Western terrorist networks.

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 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。

3 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

4 flatten   

v.把．．．弄平，使倒伏；使(漆等)失去光泽

参考例句：

• We can flatten out a piece of metal by hammering it.我们可以用锤子把一块金属敲平。
• The wrinkled silk will flatten out if you iron it.发皱的丝绸可以用熨斗烫平。

5 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。

6 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

7 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

8 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

9 warships   

军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只

参考例句：

• The enemy warships were disengaged from the battle after suffering heavy casualties. 在遭受惨重伤亡后，敌舰退出了海战。
• The government fitted out warships and sailors for them. 政府给他们配备了战舰和水手。

10 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

11 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。

12 prudent   

adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的

参考例句：

• A prudent traveller never disparages his own country.聪明的旅行者从不贬低自己的国家。
• You must school yourself to be modest and prudent.你要学会谦虚谨慎。

13 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。