VOA标准英语2009年-Signs of Progress Reported in Congo Peace Negot

Negotiators for the Congolese government and a rebel group in the country's east have reached a preliminary agreement, after talks in the eastern town of Goma. Neither side has released details of the discussion, which would only set the stage for future peace negotiations¹.
　
General Laurent Nkunda

Negotiations between the National Congress for the Defense² of the People, an ethnic³ Tutsi rebel group operating in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Congolese government resumed last Wednesday. Following Sunday's discussions, spokesmen for both sides indicated they had reached a preliminary agreement.

The talks are the first between the two sides since the rebels' leader, Laurent Nkunda, was arrested by Rwanda, his former backer, last month.

Details of the talks have not been made public, but a government spokesman indicated they were the product of the work of two committees, one on political and security issues, and one on social and humanitarian⁴ issues. He said a report would be sent to President Joseph Kabila and to the mediators.

Future discussions on a peace accord would likely be facilitated by former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, who facilitated the last round of negotiations in Nairobi.

A researcher at the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa, Henri Boshoff, says the two sides likely discussed options for disarming⁵ and integrating the CNDP rebels into the government security forces. He says the discussions are also thought to be addressing governing and security arrangements for eastern Congo.

"Surely they will ask especially on the involvement and participation⁶ on governance in the provincial⁷ level and the local level. They are not looking at the national level, they are just looking at the provincial and local level," says Boshoff.

Meanwhile, two separate military operations against two of the other armed groups operating in eastern DRC are set to wind down in the coming week.

Since December, the Ugandan military, along with the DRC and Southern Sudan, has been leading an operation against the Lords Resistance Army in northeastern Congo.

The campaign, which has had support from the United States military, has come under fire from humanitarian organizations for its failure to prevent retaliations by the rebels against civilians⁸, some 900 of whom have been brutally⁹ killed since the operation began.

At the same time the leader of a civil society organization in Dungu, which has seen some of the worst attacks, told the U.N. radio station in the Congo that Ugandan troops should be allowed to stay, saying civilians would be left vulnerable to the LRA soldiers still at large. The Ugandan military has said it will respect the Congolese government's request for the operation to end in February, though there have also been reports that Uganda is eager to continue pursuing the rebels.

To the South, in North Kivu province, Rwandan troops have been pursuing members of the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda, a Rwandan-Hutu militia¹⁰, many of whose members participated in that country's 1994 genocide. Rwandan troops are set to begin withdrawing Wednesday, though Congolese troops may continue to pursue the militia.

The militia has also been accused of retaliatory¹¹ attacks on civilians. At least 100 people have been killed, according to human-rights groups, and the United Nations says rapes¹², looting and kidnapping continue regularly.

1 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

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 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

4 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

5 disarming   

adj.消除敌意的，使人消气的v.裁军( disarm的现在分词 )；使息怒

参考例句：

• He flashed her a disarming smile. 他朝她笑了一下，让她消消气。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We will agree to disarming troops and leaving their weapons at military positions. 我们将同意解除军队的武装并把武器留在军事阵地。 来自辞典例句

6 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

7 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

8 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。

9 brutally   

adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地

参考例句：

• The uprising was brutally put down.起义被残酷地镇压下去了。
• A pro-democracy uprising was brutally suppressed.一场争取民主的起义被残酷镇压了。

10 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。

11 retaliatory   

adj.报复的

参考例句：

• The process can take years before the WTO approves retaliatory action. 在WTO通过此行动之前，这个程序恐怕要等上一阵子了。 来自互联网
• Retaliatory tariffs on China are tantamount to taxing ourselves as a punishment. 将惩罚性关税强加于中国相当于对我们自己实施课税惩罚。 来自互联网

12 rapes   

n.芸苔( rape的名词复数 )；强奸罪；强奸案；肆意损坏v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的第三人称单数 )；强奸

参考例句：

• The man who had committed several rapes was arrested. 那个犯了多起强奸案的男人被抓起来了。 来自辞典例句
• The incidence of reported rapes rose 0.8 percent. 美国联邦调查局还发布了两份特别报告。 来自互联网