VOA常速英语2007年-Somalia Nominates New Prime Minister

By Derek Kilner
Nairobi
22 November 2007

Somalia's president has announced the nomination¹ of a new prime minister for the country's embattled transitional government.  As Derek Kilner reports from VOA's East Africa bureau in Nairobi, the new prime minister will face the challenge of restoring security to a country wracked by a growing Islamist-led insurgency².

Somali president Abdullahi Yusuf announced the nomination of Nur Hassan Hussein for the post of prime minister.  The president made the announcement in the southern town of Baidoa, where the parliament is located.

Mr. Hussein, better known as Nur Adde, has been serving as secretary general of the Somali Red Crescent Society, based in Nairobi, Kenya.  He studied law in Somalia and served as a police colonel under the regime of Mohamed Siad Barre.

A senior advisor³ to President Yusuf, Abdirizak Adam Hassan, tells VOA he is optimistic about the choice of Nur Adde.

"I think he is going to be a good manager," Hassan said. "He is going to be a man of accountability, transparency, and overall good governance."

Western diplomats⁴ have expressed hope that with his humanitarian⁵ background Nur Adde will be effective in his new role.

Hassan says he believes the main tasks for Nur Adde will be restoring security and building up Somalia's government institutions.

"The major assignment of this prime minister is going to be in my view security," he said. "He has to pacify⁶ the country, he has to work towards the stabilization⁷ of Somalia.  The second priority is going to be executing the mandate⁸ of the government - drafting the constitution of the country, the census-taking, the referendum, the restructure of Somalia into federal Somalia, the multi-party system, making free and fair elections at the end of the mandate of the government."

Ethiopian troops backing the Somali government took control of Mogadishu from armed Islamists in January.  But since then, remnants of the Islamic Courts Union and other armed groups have been waging an increasingly violent Iraq-style insurgency in the capital, designed to drive out the Ethiopians.

United Nations officials have said in recent days that the humanitarian crisis in Somalia is worse than that in the Darfur region of nearby Sudan.  The United Nations estimates more than one million people - 10 percent of the population - has been displaced, including 60 percent of Mogadishu's residents.

The previous Prime Minister, Ali Mohammed Gedi, resigned in late October, the culmination⁹ of long-running tensions between Gedi and President Yusuf.

Both Nur Adde and Gedi come from the Abgal sub-clan¹⁰ of the Hawiye, Somalia's largest clan.  Analysts¹¹ say the transitional government will need greater support from the Hawiye in order to succeed.

According to Hassan, Nur Adde will be tasked with assembling a new cabinet, and must then receive a vote of confidence from a majority in parliament.  Hassan says he expects the vote to come within two weeks. 

1 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

2 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

3 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

4 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 pacify   

vt.使(某人)平静(或息怒)；抚慰

参考例句：

• He tried to pacify the protesters with promises of reform.他试图以改革的承诺安抚抗议者。
• He tried to pacify his creditors by repaying part of the money.他为安抚债权人偿还了部分借款。

7 Stabilization   

稳定化

参考例句：

• The position of barycentre on plane directly impacts the stabilization and manipulation of plane. 飞机重心位置直接影响飞机的稳定和操纵特性。
• With the higher olefins, stabilization of the energetic intermediates occurs more easily. 在较高的烯烃情况下，高能的中间物稳定作用更易出现。

8 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

9 culmination   

n.顶点；最高潮

参考例句：

• The space race reached its culmination in the first moon walk.太空竞争以第一次在月球行走而达到顶峰。
• It may truly be regarded as the culmination of classical Greek geometry.这确实可以看成是古典希腊几何的登峰造级之作。

10 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。

11 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。