VOA常速英语2007-South Sudan Rebels Play Down Clashes

By Derek Kilner
Nairobi
26 October 2007

Former rebels in southern Sudan are playing down the importance of a skirmish on Thursday between their members and government soldiers. As Derek Kilner reports for VOA's East Africa Bureau in Nairobi, tensions between the two sides have been high since the former rebels withdrew their ministers from a power-sharing national government on October 11.

Members of the Sudan People's Liberation Army clashed with government soldiers in the Sudanese state of Bahr el-Ghazal on Thursday. But Pagan Amum, secretary-general of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement - the group's political wing - says that the fighting was a minor¹ incident that is not likely to have a lasting² impact.

"That is a small skirmish that happened in Northern Bahr al Ghazal where two small units had a clash because of disagreements on deployment³. The situation is already contained," he said.

Amum says that the focus should remain on the political crisis between the Sudan People's Liberation Movement - known by the acronym⁴ SPLM - and the National Congress Party - the Northern partner in the national government. The SPLM accuses Khartoum of failing to implement⁵ key aspects of the 2005 peace agreement, known as the CPA, including withdrawing northern soldiers from the south, and accepting a commission's ruling on the borders of the disputed Abyei region.

Amum says his group is still waiting for a response from the National Congress Party.

"We are awaiting reaction from them and we are hopeful that they will react positively⁶ to implement those critical aspects of the CPA to which they have already committed themselves," he said.

On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed concern about the status of the peace agreement. Speaking before a U.S. congressional committee on foreign affairs, Rice said she was disappointed with Sudanese government's behavior and she reiterated⁷ the Bush administration's support for the peace deal.

Analysts⁸ have expressed concern that the current crisis could lead to a breakdown⁹ in security agreements between the SPLM and national government.

According to reports from Khartoum, the president of the semi-autonomous Southern region, Salva Kiir, met on Thursday with Sudan's defense¹⁰ minister in Khartoum, reaffirming that there has been no military escalation¹¹ between the two sides.

The 2005 agreement established a power-sharing interim¹² national government between the SPLM and the National Congress Party and a semi-autonomous government of South Sudan. The deal also calls for national elections in 2009 and a referendum on the south's secession in 2011.

1 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

2 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

3 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。

4 acronym   

n.首字母简略词，简称

参考例句：

• That's a mouthful of an acronym for a very simple technology.对于一项非常简单的技术来说，这是一个很绕口的缩写词。
• TSDF is an acronym for Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facilities.TSDF是处理，储存和处置设施的一个缩写。

5 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

6 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

7 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

8 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

9 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

10 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。

11 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

12 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。