VOA常速英语2007年-Somalia President Says He Wants More Control

By Alisha Ryu
Nairobi
26 November 2007

Somalia's interim¹ president has told officials he wants his interim government to tighten² control over the country's politics, economy, and security. As VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu reports from our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi, President Abdullahi Yusuf reserved his harshest criticisms for international aid groups and non-governmental organizations that he says are doing little to help the Somali people.

President Yusuf made the comments in a speech to a government budgetary and development planning session in the Somali town of Baidoa last Tuesday. In a transcript³ of the speech obtained by Voice of America, President Yusuf said it was time to limit private enterprise and put his transitional federal government in charge of all sectors⁴, including education, social services, trade, and communications.

Since the fall of Somalia's last functioning government in 1991, key sectors of the country's economy and social services have been run by private companies and entrepreneurs.

 

He emphasized that government officials are to be involved in any and all activities taking place in Somalia, especially by international aid groups. He also told ministry⁵ officials to stop working with U.N. groups and non-governmental organizations that have not coordinated⁶ their activities through the interim government.

In the speech, Mr. Yusuf repeatedly criticized the U.N.'s World Food Program, accusing the agency of doing nothing to help the Somali people since the country's last functioning government was overthrown⁷ by factional leaders nearly 17 years ago.

For the past several months, government officials have frequently complained that some aid groups in Somalia were distributing food and other supplies to war-displaced people without the government's permission.

Last month, government security forces detained the director of the World Food Program in Somalia for nearly a week, accusing him of giving food to Islamic insurgents⁹ because the agency used local mosques¹⁰ instead of government ministries¹¹ to distribute food aid in the capital Mogadishu and its outskirts¹².

In his speech, the president also criticized the head of U.N. humanitarian¹³ operations in Somalia, Eric Laroche, who has expressed alarm about Somalia's deepening humanitarian crisis. President Yusuf complained that during their recent meetings in Baidoa and in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, Laroche only wanted to discuss humanitarian issues and requested better access to some one-and-a-half million Somali civilians¹⁴ thought to be in dire⁸ need of assistance.

The president said he believed the talks should have focused on Somali politics and on ways to combat the Islamist-led insurgency¹⁵ in Mogadishu, which began nearly a year ago after Mr. Yusuf's internationally recognized-but-weak transitional government took power in Mogadishu from the Islamic Courts Union in an Ethiopia-led military offensive.

Some Somalis have expressed hope that the country's newly sworn-in Prime Minister Nur Adde Hassan Hussein will have the experience and the will to begin addressing Somalia's mounting problems. Mr. Hussein, a lawyer by training, is a veteran humanitarian chief and is also a former police colonel.

But his predecessor¹⁶, Ali Mohamed Gedi, stepped down from office last month after a falling out with President Yusuf over control of Somalia's resources and infrastructure¹⁷. And there are concerns that Mr. Hussein may be pressured to follow Mr. Yusuf's lead or risk being similarly ousted¹⁸.

During the swearing-in ceremony Saturday, the new prime minister promised to work first toward reconciling the government with opposition¹⁹ groups and improving security.

The foreign affairs secretary of the exiled Islamic Courts Union, Sherif Hassan tells VOA that reconciliation²⁰ talks will never take place while Ethiopian troops are still in Somalia.

"What we need is someone who can say loudly that Ethiopian troops should withdraw from Somali territory immediately," he said.

Ethiopia says it will withdraw its troops only when a full-strength African Union peacekeeping force is in place in Somalia. So far, only Uganda has contributed 1,600  of the 8,000 troops needed.

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 tighten   

v.(使)变紧；(使)绷紧

参考例句：

• Turn the screw to the right to tighten it.向右转动螺钉把它拧紧。
• Some countries tighten monetary policy to avoid inflation.一些国家实行紧缩银根的货币政策，以避免通货膨胀。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

6 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

7 overthrown   

adj. 打翻的，推倒的，倾覆的 动词overthrow的过去分词

参考例句：

• The president was overthrown in a military coup. 总统在军事政变中被赶下台。
• He has overthrown the basic standards of morality. 他已摒弃了基本的道德标准。

8 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

9 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

10 mosques   

清真寺； 伊斯兰教寺院，清真寺； 清真寺，伊斯兰教寺院( mosque的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why make us believe that this tunnel runs underneath the mosques? 为什么要让我们相信这条隧洞是在清真寺下？
• The city's three biggest mosques, long fallen into disrepair, have been renovated. 城里最大的三座清真寺，过去年久失修，现在已经修复。

11 ministries   

（政府的）部( ministry的名词复数 )； 神职； 牧师职位； 神职任期

参考例句：

• Local authorities must refer everything to the central ministries. 地方管理机构应请示中央主管部门。
• The number of Ministries has been pared down by a third. 部委的数量已经减少了1/3。

12 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

13 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。

14 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

15 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

16 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

17 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

18 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。

19 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

20 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。