VOA常速英语2007年-Rice Consults African Leaders on Regional Flash

By Peter Heinlein
Addis Ababa
05 December 2007

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, for a whirlwind series of meetings with African leaders on a series of regional flashpoints, from Somalia to Darfur to the Great Lakes region. VOA's Peter Heinlein reports the secretary of state's focus is on ways to strengthen peacekeeping and security forces.

Secretary of State Rice met Somalia's newly-named Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein during a one-day visit to the African Union capital, Addis Ababa.

Afterward¹, Rice told reporters she is pushing regional and world leaders to organize a robust² peacekeeping force, preferably a blue-helmeted U.N. mission, that could replace the beleaguered³ Ethiopian troops sent to Somalia last December to support the country's transitional federal government.

"I spoke⁴ to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon just before I left Washington and we talked about the need to get this peacekeeping force in place," said Rice. "So that is part of why I am here. We do believe Ethiopian forces should not have to stay in Somalia past a certain point, but it is going to require peacekeeping forces to be fairly robust peacekeeping forces."

The secretary of state also met Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, Rwanda's President Paul Kagame, and Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza, along with Democratic Republic of Congo Interior Minister Daniel Kalume to discuss countering what she called 'negative forces' in a vast lawless stretch of the Congo.

Rice said all had agreed to seek international help in strengthening the DRC's battered⁵ security forces.

"I think everyone believes strengthening of the security institutions of the DRC is a prerequisite⁶ to the long-term solution to the problems of the Congo, and affecting the Great Lakes region," added Rice.

Rice said all those present had agreed not to harbor 'negative forces', which include Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army, the renegade Tutsi General Laurent Nkunda, and the FDLR, or Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda, made up of key figures in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

"They committed not to harbor 'negative forces', the illegal groups, militias⁷ and armed groups that are causing destabilization," continued Rice. "There was a promise not to harbor."

Rice's schedule during her stay in Addis Ababa included talks with Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on topics such as his country's border tensions with neighboring Eritrea, as well as on efforts to withdraw Ethiopian troops from Somalia.

She is also meeting what a U.S. official termed 'concerned parties from Sudan', although Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir would not see her.

A U.S. official said Rice would push Sudanese officials on the delayed deployment⁸ of a hybrid⁹ United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force for Darfur

The secretary of state said earlier she would also work to shore up the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed by the Khartoum government and southern rebels in 2005. The deal has run into trouble, with former rebels accusing President al-Bashir's government of reneging on its commitments.

But Secretary Rice told reporters "That is an agreement we cannot afford to let unravel¹⁰".

1 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

2 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

3 beleaguered   

adj.受到围困[围攻]的；包围的v.围攻( beleaguer的过去式和过去分词)；困扰；骚扰

参考例句：

• The beleaguered party leader was forced to resign. 那位饱受指责的政党领导人被迫辞职。
• We are beleaguered by problems. 我们被许多困难所困扰。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

6 prerequisite   

n.先决条件；adj.作为前提的，必备的

参考例句：

• Stability and unity are a prerequisite to the four modernizations.安定团结是实现四个现代化的前提。
• It is a prerequisite of entry to the profession that you pass the exams.做这一行的先决条件是要通过了有关的考试。

7 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

8 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。

9 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

10 unravel   

v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开

参考例句：

• He was good with his hands and could unravel a knot or untangle yarn that others wouldn't even attempt.他的手很灵巧，其他人甚至都不敢尝试的一些难解的绳结或缠在一起的纱线，他都能解开。
• This is the attitude that led him to unravel a mystery that long puzzled Chinese historians.正是这种态度使他解决了长期以来使中国历史学家们大惑不解的谜。