2007年VOA标准英语-US Presses Sudan to Accept Darfur Peace Force

By David Gollust
State Department
23 April 2007

The U.S. State Department's second-ranking official warned Sudan's government Monday that time is running out for it to accept an expanded peacekeeping mission for Darfur or face new sanctions. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte visited Sudan, Chad and Libya on a North African mission focusing on the Darfur crisis last week. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte talks to reporters during a press conference ending a three-day visit to Sudan, in Khartoum, Monday, 16 April 2007

The deputy secretary is accusing Sudan of pursuing a deliberate campaign of intimidation¹ against aid workers in Darfur, and he is warning the Khartoum government that time is running out for it to halt violence in the region.

The Bush administration last week was ready to impose a tough new set of economic sanctions against Sudan.

But it withheld² action to give U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon more time, a matter of weeks, to persuade Khartoum authorities to accept expanded international peacekeeping in Darfur.

In a talk with reporters, Negroponte would not be more specific about a time frame for the process, but suggested that the international community's patience with the current situation in Darfur is wearing thin.

"Time is running out," he said. "The government of Sudan must disarm³ the Janjaweed militias⁴, the Arab militias that we all know could not exist without the Sudanese government's active support. And all non-signatory rebel groups must cease their attacks, put down their arms, and come to the negotiating table."

Much of the violence in Darfur over the last four years is blamed on the Janjaweed. But local Darfur rebels who refused to sign a May 2006 Darfur peace agreement in Nigeria are also accused of attacks on civilians⁵ and aid workers.

Negroponte said his meeting in Khartoum with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir was not particularly encouraging and that Sudanese officials have a history of reneging on stated Darfur commitments.

The U.N. secretary-general asked for the delay on sanctions after President Bashir told him Sudan would accept the first phase of deployment⁶ of a planned 20,000 member United Nations and African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur.

However, Negroponte, the former chief of U.S. national intelligence, said he left Khartoum doubtful that Sudan will actually follow through.

"It's been since August of last year that the U.N. Security Council resolution was passed, mandating⁷ additional forces to the Darfur region," said Negroponte. "And, here we are, eight months later, still talking about the various modalities."

"So, I came away from that meeting with a healthy sense, a strong sense, of skepticism as to whether they might fulfill⁸ their commitments."

Negroponte, who visited Darfur during his mission last week, said the number of displaced persons in the region - reported to exceed two million - has been increasing.

He said conditions at camps for the displaced have stabilized⁹ with malnutrition¹⁰ and mortality rates declining. But he said the situation is precarious¹¹, and it would not take much for things to deteriorate¹² dramatically.

Negroponte also visited Chad, which borders Darfur, to discuss spillover violence that has affected¹³ that country.

He said, in Libya, he endorsed¹⁴ a plan by the Muammar Gadhafi government to convene¹⁵ a regional conference on Darfur at the end of this month that would try to bring holdout Darfur rebel groups into the 2006 peace framework.

1 intimidation   

n.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• The Opposition alleged voter intimidation by the army.反对党声称投票者受到军方的恐吓。
• The gang silenced witnesses by intimidation.恶帮用恐吓的手段使得证人不敢说话。

2 withheld   

withhold过去式及过去分词

参考例句：

• I withheld payment until they had fulfilled the contract. 他们履行合同后，我才付款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There was no school play because the principal withheld his consent. 由于校长没同意，学校里没有举行比赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 disarm   

v.解除武装，回复平常的编制，缓和

参考例句：

• The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. 全世界等待伊拉克解除武装已有12年之久。
• He has rejected every peaceful opportunity offered to him to disarm.他已经拒绝了所有能和平缴械的机会。

4 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

5 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。

6 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。

7 mandating   

托管（mandate的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Current requirements mandating that committees keep minutes are too general. 目前对委员会要保持详细记录的指令性要求，还是太过一般化了。
• Mandating that workers who quit without permission forfeit a month's wages. 规定工人私自离岗将受到罚没一个月工资的处罚。

8 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

9 stabilized   

v.（使）稳定， （使）稳固( stabilize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The patient's condition stabilized. 患者的病情稳定下来。
• His blood pressure has stabilized. 他的血压已经稳定下来了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。

11 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。

12 deteriorate   

v.变坏；恶化；退化

参考例句：

• Do you think relations between China and Japan will continue to deteriorate?你认为中日关系会继续恶化吗？
• He held that this would only cause the situation to deteriorate further.他认为，这只会使局势更加恶化。

13 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

14 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 convene   

v.集合，召集，召唤，聚集，集合

参考例句：

• The Diet will convene at 3p.m. tomorrow.国会将于明天下午三点钟开会。
• Senior officials convened in October 1991 in London.1991年10月，高级官员在伦敦会齐。