VOA常速英语2007年-Chadians Protest French Intervention in Kidnap

By Selah Hennessy
Dakar
14 November 2007

Students and other demonstrators have rallied in the streets of Chad's capital, N'Djamena, protesting against French efforts to repatriate¹ aid workers charged in the recent Zoe's Ark adoption² controversy³. Local journalists say foreigners in the capital are scared to leave their homes in the wake of anti-French sentiment. Selah Hennessy reports from the VOA West and Central Africa bureau in Dakar.

Chadian journalist Evariste Ngaralbaye, who was on the scene, says hundreds of high school students and unemployed⁴ youths marched through the streets. He says they shouted anti-French slogans and carried placards telling France's president, Nicolas Sarkozy, to "stay out of Chad".

Ngaralbaye says "not a shadow of a non-African", in his words, could be seen on the streets of N'Djamena. Most foreigners, he says, are too scared to leave their homes.

Last month a group of French charity workers were arrested in Chad after trying to fly more than 100 African children to Europe without authorization⁵.

Some of the charity workers are being charged with fraud and abduction and could face up to 20 years of forced labor⁶.

Earlier this month, Mr. Sarkozy obtained the release of three French journalists, three Spanish flight attendants and a Belgian pilot who had initially⁷ been detained in Chad over the affair.

French authorities are trying to arrange for the six charity workers still in Chad's custody⁸ to be tried in France. Agreements dating back to the independence era allow France to try its nationals on French soil when charged in its former colonies.

Ngaralbaye says protesters, and especially Chadian lawyers, are reacting against what they view as excessive meddling⁹ from the former colonial power.

But Ngaralbaye adds it is the government which has organized these protests. He says it is still difficult to know the extent of grassroots animosity.

Either way, he says, the situation is serving to boost the popularity of Chadian president Idriss Deby. He says the president uses what he calls "the French card" very pragmatically.

He says in April 2006 help from French troops was decisive in preventing rebels from taking over Chad's capital.

Now, he says, the adoption saga¹⁰ is boosting Mr. Deby's popularity, depicting¹¹ him as a strong leader defending his country against perceived neo-colonialism.

1 repatriate   

v.遣返；返回；n.被遣返回国者

参考例句：

• The government safely repatriates victims.政府安全遣返了受害者。
• In this part,you need to formulate in detail repatriate the plan.在这一部分，你需要制定详细的归国计划。

2 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

3 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。

4 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

5 authorization   

n.授权，委任状

参考例句：

• Anglers are required to obtain prior authorization from the park keeper.垂钓者必须事先得到公园管理者的许可。
• You cannot take a day off without authorization.未经批准你不得休假。

6 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

7 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。

8 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

9 meddling   

v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He denounced all "meddling" attempts to promote a negotiation. 他斥责了一切“干预”促成谈判的企图。 来自辞典例句
• They liked this field because it was never visited by meddling strangers. 她们喜欢这块田野，因为好事的陌生人从来不到那里去。 来自辞典例句

10 saga   

n.(尤指中世纪北欧海盗的)故事，英雄传奇

参考例句：

• The saga of Flight 19 is probably the most repeated story about the Bermuda Triangle.飞行19中队的传说或许是有关百慕大三角最重复的故事。
• The novel depicts the saga of a family.小说描绘了一个家族的传奇故事。

11 depicting   

描绘，描画( depict的现在分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• a painting depicting the Virgin and Child 一幅描绘童贞马利亚和圣子耶稣的画
• The movie depicting the battles and bloodshed is bound to strike home. 这部描写战斗和流血牺牲的影片一定会取得预期效果。