2007年VOA标准英语-Somalia Government Tries to Confirm Terrorist's

By Alisha Ryu
Nairobi
10 January 2007

Somalia's interim¹-government spokesman says the government cannot confirm one of the three key al-Qaida operatives involved in the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in East Africa has been killed in a U.S. air strike in southern Somalia. VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu in our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi reports.

FBI most wanted poster of Fazul Abdullah Mohamed

The Associated Press news agency quoted the chief of staff of Somalia's interim president, who said he had received a preliminary report from American officials about the results of Monday's air strike. The report said that al-Qaida suspect Fazul Abdullah Mohamed had been killed in the attack, near the Somali border with Kenya.

Somali interim-government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari says government officials and troops are now trying to verify the information.

"Our forces and officials are trying to know if this information is right or wrong. We cannot confirm it," said Dinari.

Born in Comoros, Fazul Abdullah Mohamed joined al-Qaida in Afghanistan and is believed to have planned the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania that killed more than 200 people. He eluded² capture for nearly a decade, despite a $5 million bounty³.

The United States believes that Mohamed and two other al-Qaida operatives fled Mogadishu late last month with several senior leaders of Somalia's radical⁴ Islamist movement, as the country's government troops, backed up by the Ethiopian military, advanced on the capital.

A U.S. airplane pursued the suspects near the Islamist stronghold of Ras Kamboni, in southern Somalia near the border with Kenya. The air strike was the first American military offensive in Somalia since a humanitarian⁵ mission ended in disaster in 1993.

In Washington, U.S. officials said the air attack was ordered after receiving credible⁶ intelligence about the whereabouts of the al-Qaida suspects. An American newspaper Tuesday quoted an unidentified U.S. diplomat⁷, who acknowledged that the United States was working with Somali clans⁹ to locate the al-Qaida fugitives¹⁰.

That prompted media speculation¹¹ that U.S. officials may have received critical intelligence from elders of the Ayr, a sub-clan⁸ of the most powerful clan in Mogadishu, the Hawiye.

Two of the Somali Islamist leaders wanted by Washington for having ties to al-Qaida are the movement's supreme¹² leader Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys and the founder¹³ and leader of the radical Shabbab group, Adan Hashi Ayro.

Both are Ayr clan members, who are believed to have protected the al-Qaida operatives in Mogadishu.

But Nairobi-based Somali expert Matt Bryden says the Ayr clan would not have been able to provide the United States with intelligence good enough to pin-point the location of the Islamists and their al-Qaida allies in the Ras Kamboni area.

"This would have had nothing to do with the Ayr clan," he said. "This is a region inhabited by the Ogaden clan and particularly people who would be sympathetic to Hassan Turki, who is one of the militant¹⁴ leaders within the courts. And so, that would much more likely be the source of information and of assistance to the United States, if they were looking for intelligence in that part of Somalia."

Sources in Kismayo tell VOA that U.S. planes hunting for al-Qaida suspects attacked several more areas near Ras Kamboni on Wednesday. The report could not be independently confirmed.

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 eluded   

v.（尤指机敏地）避开( elude的过去式和过去分词 )；逃避；躲避；使达不到

参考例句：

• The sly fox nimbly eluded the dogs. 那只狡猾的狐狸灵活地躲避开那群狗。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The criminal eluded the police. 那个罪犯甩掉了警察的追捕。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 bounty   

n.慷慨的赠予物，奖金；慷慨，大方；施与

参考例句：

• He is famous for his bounty to the poor.他因对穷人慷慨相助而出名。
• We received a bounty from the government.我们收到政府给予的一笔补助金。

4 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。

5 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

6 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

7 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

8 clan   

n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派

参考例句：

• She ranks as my junior in the clan.她的辈分比我小。
• The Chinese Christians,therefore,practically excommunicate themselves from their own clan.所以，中国的基督徒简直是被逐出了自己的家族了。

9 clans   

宗族( clan的名词复数 )； 氏族； 庞大的家族； 宗派

参考例句：

• There are many clans in European countries. 欧洲国家有很多党派。
• The women were the great power among the clans [gentes], as everywhere else. 妇女在克兰〈氏族〉里，乃至一般在任何地方，都有很大的势力。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源

10 fugitives   

n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Three fugitives from the prison are still at large. 三名逃犯仍然未被抓获。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Members of the provisional government were prisoners or fugitives. 临时政府的成员或被捕或逃亡。 来自演讲部分

11 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

12 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。

13 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

14 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。