VOA标准英语2008年-Sudan's Political Parties Have Mixed Reaction t

With the International Criminal Court considering a request to issue an arrest warrant for Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, Sudan's political parties - often at odds¹ with the government - have come to the president's defense². As Derek Kilner reports from VOA's East Africa bureau in Nairobi, the parties have little sympathy for the country's leader, but see potential political benefits from cooperation.
　
Omar al-Bashir

From the mid-1980s, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, a rebel group based in the country's south, waged a two-decade insurgency³ against the national government in Khartoum. Southerners resented what they saw as an overwhelming concentration of power and wealth in the hands of the government in Khartoum. The government's bombing raids and recruitment of Arab militias⁴ further increased southern hostility⁵ to the ruling National Congress Party, or NCP, and its leader, President Omar al-Bashir.

So when International Criminal Court chief prosecutor⁶ Luis Moreno-Ocampo last month requested an arrest warrant for President Bashir, one might have expected the rebels, known by the acronym⁷ SPLM, to greet the news with enthusiasm.

But since a 2005 peace agreement, the SPLM and the NCP, have been sharing power in a national unity⁸ government, and the former rebels are the ruling party in a semi-autonomous southern region. Despite continued tensions between the two parties that have threatened to derail the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, or CPA, as the deal is known, the SPLM is still committed to its implementation¹⁰.

Whatever their private reactions, SPLM officials have so far joined President Bashir in criticizing the possibility of his indictment¹¹.

"They say we have an agreement with them, we want to implement⁹ the CPA and al-Bashir is our partner," said Hafiz Mohammed, who directs the Sudan program at Justice Africa in London. "Any changes in the positions of the president or the structure of the government might affect the implementation of the CPA, that's why we are supporting him."

The 2005 agreement calls for national elections next year, and a referendum on southern secession in 2011. While the SPLM has been frustrated¹² with the NCP's cooperation in implementing¹³ the deal, the former rebels are concerned that an indictment of its partner in the agreement could be even riskier¹⁴.

Minister for presidential affairs in the southern government, Luka Biong, says the discussion of the president's indictment could encourage the government to come to an "amicable¹⁵ solution" on the situation of the conflict in Darfur and the dispute over implementing provisions of the north-south agreement, including delineating the north-south border and organizing fair elections next year.

He says the NCP is divided between hardliners and those more amenable¹⁶ to cooperation.

"There are forces that believe it his high time for the National Congress Party to open up to work very closely with the SPLM and also to engage the international community," he said. "Equally there are forces who believe that these ones are challenging the leadership of NCP and it has deliberate intentions to expose the NCP not only internationally even locally given the fact now that we are going for elections.

There are indications that the National Congress Party may be taking a more cooperative approach. The two sides agreed this weekend to a national conference to address the conflict in Darfur. And on Friday, the two sides agreed to a new administration for the disputed border area of Abyei, long one of the main issues of contention¹⁷ in implementing the 2005 deal.

But the south is still eyeing the north warily¹⁸. Mr. Biong, who visited Abyei with U.S. Congressman¹⁹ Donald Payne following Friday's agreement, says the north has not yet followed through on its pledge to remove its forces from the area.

"What we have seen is Sudan Armed Forces have not moved out of the area as we have agreed upon,." he said. "Secondly²⁰, the police are not being deployed²¹. And even the Joint²² Integrated Units that we have agreed to should be deployed to the area not being supported."

In the North, the Umma Party, led by Sadiq al-Mahdi, has also long been in tension with President Bashir's NCP. But shortly before Mr. Ocampo's announcement, the Umma Party, which is even more wary²³ of a national government led by the SPLM, reached an agreement on political cooperation with the NCP.

The Umma Party has backed the government's calls for the U.N. Security Council to delay consideration of the request for an arrest warrant.

Mohammed, of Justice Africa, says the party may be hoping to gain a more prominent position in a coalition²⁴ with the NCP ahead of next year's elections.

"Sadiq al-Mahdi is very cunning. Publicly he says yes, we are against the indictment of the president, he's not against the ICC principles because he supports the ICC process, but he's against indicting²⁵ al-Bashir," he said. "But he's happy to see al-Bashir indicted²⁶ because he's going to have a weak party now he can then impose his will on them. In public yes, he pretends that he's standing²⁷ with them, supporting them, but we know that in private he's really happy to see him indicted."

The Umma Party has also supported a national conference on Darfur, as well as a broader national conference of Sudanese political actors to address the problems facing the country. Mariam al-Mahdi, a spokesperson for the party, says she also believes the ICC controversy²⁸ will likely make the NCP more cooperative.

"We believe this is a very opportune²⁹ time for us to make this breakthrough. Ultimately I expect this crisis to make them more sober and to make them more committed," she said. "At the same time the neck of the president himself is at stake. "

Mohammed says the party that has been most receptive to the possibility of an ICC indictment is the Popular Congress Party, which unlike the Umma Party of the SPLM, has not entered into any agreements with the government.

While Popular Congress leader Hassan al-Turabi has advocated a truth-and-reconciliation process as an alternative to the ICC, party officials have also criticized government efforts to try Darfur cases locally and have even accused the government of genocide.

The NCP, for its part, has accused the Popular Congress - its former allies in the Islamist regime that came to power in a 1989 coup³⁰ - of "igniting" the conflict in Darfur and of cooperating with rebels.

 

1 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 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

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 hostility   

n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争

参考例句：

• There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
• His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。

6 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

7 acronym   

n.首字母简略词，简称

参考例句：

• That's a mouthful of an acronym for a very simple technology.对于一项非常简单的技术来说，这是一个很绕口的缩写词。
• TSDF is an acronym for Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facilities.TSDF是处理，储存和处置设施的一个缩写。

8 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。

9 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

10 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

11 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

12 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 implementing   

v.实现( implement的现在分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• -- Implementing a comprehensive drug control strategy. ――实行综合治理的禁毒战略。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• He was in no hurry about implementing his unshakable principle. 他并不急于实行他那不可动摇的原则。 来自辞典例句

14 riskier   

冒险的，危险的( risky的比较级 )

参考例句：

• Now they are starting to demand higher returns on riskier assets. 而今他们开始在风险更高的资产上要求更高的回报。
• The problem with that: RIM's business is getting riskier every quarter. 不过问题也随之而来：RIM面临的业务风险正逐季增大。

15 amicable   

adj.和平的，友好的；友善的

参考例句：

• The two nations reached an amicable agreement.两国达成了一项友好协议。
• The two nations settled their quarrel in an amicable way.两国以和睦友好的方式解决了他们的争端。

16 amenable   

adj.经得起检验的；顺从的；对负有义务的

参考例句：

• His scientific discoveries are amenable to the laws of physics.他在科学上的发现经得起物理定律的检验。
• He is amenable to counsel.他这人听劝。

17 contention   

n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张

参考例句：

• The pay increase is the key point of contention. 加薪是争论的焦点。
• The real bone of contention,as you know,is money.你知道，争论的真正焦点是钱的问题。

18 warily   

adv.留心地

参考例句：

• He looked warily around him,pretending to look after Carrie.他小心地看了一下四周，假装是在照顾嘉莉。
• They were heading warily to a point in the enemy line.他们正小心翼翼地向着敌人封锁线的某一处前进。

19 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

20 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

21 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

22 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。

23 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。

24 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

25 indicting   

控告，起诉( indict的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• But Moreno-Ocampo stressed he was not indicting President Bashir. 但是奥坎波强调，他并不是在起诉巴希尔总统。
• He says that indicting the journalists is just another move at Washington. 尹德民说，起诉这两名记者就是针对华盛顿的另一个行动。

26 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

27 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

28 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

29 opportune   

adj.合适的，适当的

参考例句：

• Her arrival was very opportune.她来得非常及时。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

30 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。