VOA常速英语2007-Chad Government, Rebels Agree on Preliminary Pea

By Kari Barber
Dakar
04 October 2007

Major rebel groups in Chad have agreed to a peace deal with the government following months of negotiations¹. But some say issues of disarmament and the assigning of government posts still need to be worked out. Kari Barber reports from VOA's West and Central Africa bureau in Dakar.

Rebel leader Amine Ben Barka has been a negotiator in talks between the leaders of Chad's four main rebel groups and the government.

He says as long as all sides follow through on their commitments and negotiate in good faith, he is optimistic the accord could bring a stop to fighting between government and rebel forces.

Previous attempts to negotiate peace have failed.

Chad's rebel groups have been fighting the government for several years. The rebels accuse the government of corruption² and human rights abuses. In recent weeks, Chad has seen a decline in the fighting.

Mahamat Nouri, the leader of Chad's main rebel group, the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development, has said there are still problems that need to be sorted out for the peace deal to work, such as how to secure the rebels' safety after they are disarmed³ and how they will participate in the government.

Negotiator Barka says the accord calls for the creation of eight government posts to be given to the rebel side.

He says one of these will be vice⁴ prime minister.

Previous rebel demands called for someone from the movement to be named prime minister.

Government and rebel leaders say the official signing of the accord is to take place in a few days.

Paul Simon Handy, an analyst⁵ with Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies Paul says the situation in Chad has been aggravated⁶ by spill over from the Darfur conflict in neighboring Sudan.

"What we see in that triangle between Central African Republic, Chad and Sudan is what we call a conflict system," said Handy. "That means a complex set of interrelationships between the conflict in that region but also a huge amount of domestic problems which forms the fundamentals of domestic crises."

Chad's government has accused Sudan of backing the rebels in an effort to overthrow⁷ Chad's President Idriss Deby.

In the coming months, several thousand European Union peacekeepers are expected to be deployed⁸ in eastern Chad and Central African Republic.

1 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

2 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

3 disarmed   

v.裁军( disarm的过去式和过去分词 )；使息怒

参考例句：

• Most of the rebels were captured and disarmed. 大部分叛乱分子被俘获并解除了武装。
• The swordsman disarmed his opponent and ran him through. 剑客缴了对手的械，并对其乱刺一气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

5 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

6 aggravated   

使恶化( aggravate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火

参考例句：

• If he aggravated me any more I shall hit him. 假如他再激怒我，我就要揍他。
• Far from relieving my cough, the medicine aggravated it. 这药非但不镇咳，反而使我咳嗽得更厉害。

7 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

8 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。