VOA标准英语2008年-US Sending Envoy to Seek Kenyan Dialogue

By David Gollust
State Department
03 January 2008

The Bush administration is sending its senior Africa diplomat¹ to Kenya to try to encourage political dialogue between the principals in last week's bitterly disputed presidential election. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

State Department officials say Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer is not going to Kenya to try to mediate² the election dispute or to prescribe any particular solution to the conflict that has spurred widespread rioting and hundreds of deaths.

However, they say Frazer does intend to meet with both President Mwai Kibaki and opposition³ leader Raila Odinga to personally appeal for the political reconciliation⁴ that senior U.S., African and other leaders have been calling for.

Spokesman Sean McCormack said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made the decision to send Frazer after morning telephone conversations on Kenya with, among others, President Kibaki and, European Union chief diplomat Javier Solana.

"Her presence there could be a way to encourage them, to get together. It's also certainly a way that we can more directly try to encourage them to get together and open up that dialogue," said McCormack. "The Secretary's phone calls are one way. Public statements are another way. But Secretary Rice decided⁵ this morning that it was important to send Jendayi [Frazer] out to Kenya to try to bring that message directly to the leaders."

McCormack said the Frazer mission will be relatively⁶ brief and told reporters not to expect an effort by her to arrange a three-way meeting with President Kibaki and Odinga.

The crisis began last week after Mr. Kibaki was declared the election winner despite early tallies⁷ showing Odinga leading the vote count.

The United States initially⁸ congratulated Mr. Kibaki but later rescinded⁹ the statement as European Union and other observers reported vote irregularities.

Since then, the Bush administration has pressed for a political accommodation between the sides that will end the violence but has declined to offer any specific proposals, at least in public.

In keeping with that, McCormack distanced himself from a European Union statement that in their conversation Thursday, Rice and Solana endorsed¹⁰ the creation of Kenyan national unity¹¹ government.

He also downplayed the notion, advanced by the EU, that the United States and European Union would send a joint¹² mediation¹³ team to Kenya.

The U.S. spokesman said there had already been several offers of good offices in the Kenyan crisis, by among others South African Nobel Peace Laureate Bishop¹⁴ Desmond Tutu and Ghanaian President John Kufuor on behalf of the African Union.

Aides to President Kibaki have said outside intervention¹⁵ is not needed, but Spokesman McCormack said he expects that Frazer will be able to see both principles in the conflict.

He said she will also meet with leaders of Kenyan civil society to see what ideas they may have for defusing one of the worst crises since Kenya's independence in 1963.

1 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

2 mediate   

vi.调解，斡旋；vt.经调解解决；经斡旋促成

参考例句：

• The state must mediate the struggle for water resources.政府必须通过调解来解决对水资源的争夺。
• They may be able to mediate between parties with different interests.他们也许能在不同利益政党之间进行斡旋。

3 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

4 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。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

7 tallies   

n.账( tally的名词复数 )；符合；（计数的）签；标签v.计算，清点( tally的第三人称单数 )；加标签（或标记）于；（使）符合；（使）吻合

参考例句：

• Cash on hand tallies with the figure in the accounts. 现款跟账上的数目没有出入。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He tallies his own marks. 他把自己的得分记了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

9 rescinded   

v.废除，取消( rescind的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Rescinded civil acts shall be null and void from the very beginning. 被撤销的民事行为从行为开始起无效。 来自互联网
• They accepted his advice and rescinded the original plan. 他们听从了他的劝告，撤销了原计划。 来自互联网

10 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》

11 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

12 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。

13 mediation   

n.调解

参考例句：

• The dispute was settled by mediation of the third country. 这场争端通过第三国的斡旋而得以解决。
• The dispute was settled by mediation. 经调解使争端得以解决。

14 bishop   

n.主教，（国际象棋）象

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。

15 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。