2007年VOA标准英语-Rebel Chief Named Ivory Coast Prime Minister

By Phuong Tran
Dakar
27 March 2007

In Ivory Coast, government officials and rebels have agreed to name New Forces rebel leader Guillaume Soro as prime minister. Tuesday's announcement comes three weeks after Mr. Soro and Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo signed an agreement to create a new government. Phuong Tran has more from VOA's West Africa Bureau in Dakar.

Guillaume Soro (file photo)

Guillaume Soro's deputy, Cisse Sindou, says the rebel leader agreed to accept the nomination¹ late on Monday after receiving a guarantee from government officials that he would have all the necessary powers to organize presidential elections by the end of October.

"Power sharing is whatever power [is] necessary to the prime minister," he said. "Areas like identification, election will be given to Soro. [President] Gbagbo will not have to interfere² with that."

The presidential vote, originally scheduled for October 2005, has been postponed³ two times.

Voter identity cards have been a key demand for the rebels who took up arms four years ago to defend the rights of northerners who do not have Ivorian identification papers.

But analyst⁴ Daniel Balint-Kurti, with London-based Chatham House, says Mr. Soro's pending⁵ nomination is not enough to guarantee reunification of the country split since 2002.

"It is one thing naming Soro as prime minister," he said. "But actually sharing power with him on a day-to-day basis and putting in place measures to resolve some of the real problems in the country is another matter."

In the past, the debate over voting cards and disarmament of former fighters has stalled efforts to reunite Ivory Coast.

The peace agreement brokered⁶ earlier this month in Ouagadougou by Burkina Faso's president and leader of the Economic Community of West African States, Blaise Compaore, is the latest in a string of more than 10 agreements that have thus far failed to reunite the country. But this is the first agreement that was achieved through direct dialogue between the rebels and the government. And this makes Cisse Sindou hopeful that this plan will succeed in reuniting the country.

"Nothing is easy," he said. "But we think that the Ouaga[dougou peace deal] accord is the proposition of [President] Gbagbo himself."

This agreement has led to the creation of a joint⁷ army command center that will work on demobilizing militia⁸ fighters from both sides.

The power sharing announcement comes as France prepares to pull out 500 troops from the U.N. controlled buffer⁹ zone between the rebel-held north and government-controlled south.

Pending President Gbagbo's formal nomination by decree, Mr. Soro will replace the current U.N.-appointed prime minister Charles Konan Banny, who has said he is ready to resign in the interests of his country. 

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 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

3 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

4 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

5 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

6 brokered   

adj.由权力经纪人安排（或控制）的v.做掮客（或中人等）( broker的过去式和过去分词 )；作为权力经纪人进行谈判；以中间人等身份安排…

参考例句：

• a peace plan brokered by the UN 由联合国出面协商的和平计划
• Your husband brokered the deal to go in, transfrer the assets and get our man out. 你丈夫后来插了一脚，把生意都抢了过去，我们的人也被挤了出来。 来自电影对白

7 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。

8 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

9 buffer   

n.起缓冲作用的人(或物)，缓冲器；vt.缓冲

参考例句：

• A little money can be a useful buffer in time of need.在急需时，很少一点钱就能解燃眉之急。
• Romantic love will buffer you against life's hardships.浪漫的爱会减轻生活的艰辛。