2007年VOA标准英语-France Urges Sudan to Accept More Peacekeepers

By Nico Colombant
Dakar
15 February 2007

French President Jacques Chirac is urging Sudan to accept more peacekeepers in its troubled Darfur region, while also pushing for a meeting between Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir and other African leaders at a France-Africa summit in Cannes, France.  Nico Colombant reports from our West and Central Africa bureau in Dakar.

French President Jacques Chirac talks with the photographers at the Sofitel Hotel, February 14, on the eve of the Africa-France summit

Speaking about the Darfur conflict, Mr. Chirac said Africa must refuse to accept what he called the fatality¹ of a humanitarian² catastrophe³, which threatens an entire region.

He says the international community and the African Union are ready to help, but Sudan's government and other belligerents⁴ must accept more peacekeepers and stop the fighting.

Mr. Chirac also tried to organize a meeting between Sudan's president and the leaders of Egypt, the Central African Republic and Chad.

Rebel movements near the border with Sudan have been active in both Chad and CAR, leading to the killing⁵ of civilians⁶ and the displacement⁷ of thousands of people back and forth⁸ across borders.

The governments in Chad and CAR have accused Sudan of backing these rebel movements.  Darfurian rebels have their headquarters in Chad's capital.

A 7,000-strong African Union force has been trying to help stop the violence in Darfur, itself, but it is under-funded and ill-equipped.

Sudan's government has so far rejected a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a large U.N. peacekeeping contingent⁹, but has sent mixed signals about a joint¹⁰, U.N.-African Union force.

There are also efforts for an international peacekeeping force in the border region along the three countries.

As part of bilateral¹¹ accords, France has already been helping¹² the governments of Chad and CAR fight back their own insurgencies.

Mr. Chirac defended these actions, saying they were in line with U.N. and African Union mandates¹³, to help contain violence in Africa.

One of the frontrunners in next April's French presidential election, in which Mr. Chirac is not a candidate, Segolene Royal says she would consider reviewing these French military accords in Africa, saying they are outdated¹⁴.

More than 30 African heads of state are taking part in the three-day summit, as well as several European leaders.  The lack of conflict resolution in divided Ivory Coast and military-ruled Guinea are also being discussed. 

Several African leaders are not attending, including Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, who has a European travel ban because of human rights abuses, and South African and Ivory Coast presidents Thabo Mbeki and Laurent Gbagbo, both of whom have strained relations with Mr. Chirac.

1 fatality   

n.不幸，灾祸，天命

参考例句：

• She struggle against fatality in vain.她徒然奋斗反抗宿命。
• He began to have a growing sense of fatality.他开始有一种越来越强烈的宿命感。

2 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。

3 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

4 belligerents   

n.交战的一方（指国家、集团或个人）( belligerent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At long last an armistice was declared by the belligerents. 交战双方终于宣布停战。 来自辞典例句
• Yet it remains unclear whether the actual belligerents will accept it. 但真正的交战双方是否会接受还是个未知数。 来自互联网

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 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。

7 displacement   

n.移置，取代，位移，排水量

参考例句：

• They said that time is the feeling of spatial displacement.他们说时间是空间位移的感觉。
• The displacement of all my energy into caring for the baby.我所有精力都放在了照顾宝宝上。

8 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

9 contingent   

adj.视条件而定的；n.一组，代表团，分遣队

参考例句：

• The contingent marched in the direction of the Western Hills.队伍朝西山的方向前进。
• Whether or not we arrive on time is contingent on the weather.我们是否按时到达要视天气情况而定。

10 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

11 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

12 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

13 mandates   

托管（mandate的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Individual mandates would require all people to purchase health insurance. 个人托管要求所有人都要购买健康保险。
• While I agree with those benefits, I'm not a supporter of mandates. 我同意上述好处，我不是授权软件的支持者。

14 outdated   

adj.旧式的，落伍的，过时的；v.使过时

参考例句：

• That list of addresses is outdated,many have changed.那个通讯录已经没用了，许多地址已经改了。
• Many of us conform to the outdated customs laid down by our forebears.我们许多人都遵循祖先立下的过时习俗。