2007年VOA标准英语-Peace Talks Slow to Develop in Somalia

By Alisha Ryu
Nairobi
18 July 2007

In the Somali capital, Mogadishu, insurgent¹ violence is continuing to cause delays in the start of peace talks to end 16 years of factional strife². As VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu reports from our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi, the reconciliation³ process is also being severely⁴ tested by increasing criticisms about the performance of Somalia's top interim⁵ government leaders and allegations that they are pursuing their own agendas.

When Somalia's Ethiopian-backed, secular⁶, interim government took power in Mogadishu from Islamists more than six months ago, major western donor⁷ nations urged the government to hold a national reconciliation conference that could help stabilize⁸ the country, help heal the wounds of civil war, and pave the way for nation-wide elections in 2009.

But organizing and holding that conference has not been an easy task for Somalia's Transitional Federal Government, which was established in 2004 in neighboring Kenya, and represents the 14th attempt by the international community to form a functioning government in Somalia since the fall of Mohamed Siad Barre's regime in 1991.

 

Insurgents⁹, who began a fierce guerrilla war against the government in February, have played a key role by disrupting the planned peace conference four times in as many months.

Abdullahi Yusuf, (r), during opening of the peace conference in Mogadishu, 15 July 2007

The latest effort to start the talks was more successful than others. On Sunday, interim President Abdullahi Yusuf was giving a speech at the opening ceremony, when the conference site came under a mortar¹⁰ attack. Organizers again delayed the opening, this time for four days.

Ali Abdullahi is a Nairobi-based, pro-interim government Somali intellectual, who is becoming increasingly concerned that insurgents, not the government, are winning the hearts and minds of ordinary Somalis.

Abdullahi says he and many of his colleagues believe the government is having trouble uniting Somalis behind it, largely because it is seen as being beholden to the country's traditional rival in the Horn, Ethiopia. Ethiopia's military brought the interim government to power and tens of thousands of troops are still in Somalia to protect it.

"The biggest challenge is the Ethiopian presence in Somalia," said Abdullahi. "They need to be replaced constructively¹¹ by African Union [AU] forces. The time frame should be as quickly as possible."

Islamist leaders exiled in Eritrea, and whose followers¹² make up a large number of the insurgents, have rejected participating in any peace conference with interim government officials while Ethiopian troops were still in Somalia.

They say that they would consider joining the talks if the Ethiopians withdrew, and if the reconciliation process included formulating¹³ power-sharing deals with not just rival clans¹⁴, but with political rivals, like the ousted¹⁶ Islamic Courts Union.

 

The director of the Nelson Institute for International and Public Affairs at James Madison University in the United States, J. Peter Pham, says he believes if the government showed a willingness to be politically inclusive, the insurgency¹⁷ could weaken significantly.

Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf

But he says some transitional federal government leaders, particularly President Yusuf and Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi, have done little to convince the Somali people that they want peace.

"The groundwork was never laid for this conference, which leads me to question whether the political will was ever there for the conference to succeed," said Pham.

"They have shown very little political will to be inclusive. The international community needs to wake up and recognize that the TFG was seriously flawed from the start because it did not have the requisites¹⁸ to build legitimacy¹⁹ across clan¹⁵, religious, and ideological²⁰ lines," he continued.

Pham notes that, in Mogadishu, clan tensions have skyrocketed in recent months amid allegations that President Yusuf is encouraging his Darod clan's attempts to claim dominancy in the capital over Prime Minister Gedi's Hawiye clan.

The Hawiye clan is also reportedly dividing quickly along sub-clan lines, making reconciliation more difficult.

Somalis say a particularly dangerous power struggle is brewing²¹ between the Abgal clan and the Habre Gedir clan.

The chairman of Somalia's reconciliation committee, Ali Mahdi Mohamed, 13 Jun 2007

The leaders of the two clans worked together to overthrow²² Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. But when the Abgal leader, Ali Mahdi, declared himself interim president over the Habre Gedir leader, Mohamed Farah Aideed, it sparked a devastating²³ seven-year war between the two clans that destroyed much of Mogadishu.

When Prime Minister Gedi recently appointed Ali Mahdi, a fellow Abgal, to be the chairman of the national reconciliation committee, many Somalis, especially within the Habre Gedir clan, complained bitterly that the committee was not a neutral, independent body.

A member of the Somali interim parliament, Awad Ashureh, acknowledges that the interim government has failed to achieve much of what it had promised to do, when it was formed nearly three years ago. He says the parliament, which has the power to vote the president and the prime minister out of office, will act, if necessary, to stabilize the country.

 

There are mistakes and it is the jurisdiction²⁴ of the parliament to review and correct all mistakes and mismanagement.

Analyst²⁵ J. Peter Pham says he believes western donor nations must set clear political benchmarks for Somalia's interim government to meet.

"Instead of constantly advancing money for these conferences, I think benchmarks for progress need to be laid, and if there is failure to adhere to those benchmarks, then gradual derecognition of the TFG Without international recognition, the TFG would simply dissolve," said Pham.

Few experts believe the international community would allow the Transitional Federal Government to collapse²⁶ for fear it would create a vacuum for Islamic radical²⁷ groups like al-Qaida to fill.

But they warn that not holding interim leaders accountable for failing to bring peace and stability could also lead desperate Somalis into the arms of radical Islamists.

1 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

2 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

3 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。

4 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

5 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。

6 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

7 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

8 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

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 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。

11 constructively   

ad.有益的，积极的

参考例句：

• Collecting, by occupying spare time so constructively, makes a person contented, with no time for boredom. 如此富有意义地利用业余时间来进行收藏，会使人怡然自得，无暇烦恼。
• The HKSAR will continue to participate constructively in these activities. 香港会继续积极参与这些活动。

12 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

13 formulating   

v.构想出( formulate的现在分词 )；规划；确切地阐述；用公式表示

参考例句：

• At present, the Chinese government is formulating nationwide regulations on the control of such chemicals. 目前，中国政府正在制定全国性的易制毒化学品管理条例。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• Because of this, the U.S. has taken further steps in formulating the \"Magellan\" programme. 为此，美国又进一步制定了“麦哲伦”计划。 来自百科语句

14 clans   

宗族( clan的名词复数 )； 氏族； 庞大的家族； 宗派

参考例句：

• There are many clans in European countries. 欧洲国家有很多党派。
• The women were the great power among the clans [gentes], as everywhere else. 妇女在克兰〈氏族〉里，乃至一般在任何地方，都有很大的势力。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源

15 clan   

n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派

参考例句：

• She ranks as my junior in the clan.她的辈分比我小。
• The Chinese Christians,therefore,practically excommunicate themselves from their own clan.所以，中国的基督徒简直是被逐出了自己的家族了。

16 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。

17 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

18 requisites   

n.必要的事物( requisite的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It is obvious that there are two requisites. 显然有两个必要部分。 来自辞典例句
• Capacity of donor is one of the essential requisites of \"gift\". 赠与人的行为能力是\"赠与\"的一个重要前提。 来自口语例句

19 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

20 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

21 brewing   

n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• It was obvious that a big storm was brewing up. 很显然，一场暴风雨正在酝酿中。
• She set about brewing some herb tea. 她动手泡一些药茶。

22 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

23 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

24 jurisdiction   

n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权

参考例句：

• It doesn't lie within my jurisdiction to set you free.我无权将你释放。
• Changzhou is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.常州隶属江苏省。

25 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。

26 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

27 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。