非洲—非洲恐怖主义

African Terrorism

非洲恐怖主义

On July 21, London suffered its second round of terror attacks this year, with the discovery of four bombs that failed to explode in the British capital's transit 1 system. Unlike the deadly July 7 attack, whose bombers 2 were mainly British-born men of Pakistani ancestry 3, some of those arrested in connection with the subsequent plot were born in the Horn of Africa.

Ethiopian-born Hussain Osman, who was arrested in Rome, told investigators 4 that the second bombing was designed to frighten, but not kill, Londoners. Two other suspects, Yassin Hassan Omar and Ibrahim Muktar Said, were born in Somalia and Eritrea, respectively.

Young Muslims Make Easy Recruits

Evan Kohlmann, the author of the book: Al-Qaida's Jihad in Europe spent time in London studying radical 5 Muslim communities. He says the isolation 6 and frustrations 8 of some young Muslims make them easy recruits for extremist organizations.

Evan Kohlmann: Many of them feel like they've been rejected by mainstream 9 British society and some of them harbor resentment 10 because of it. Others feel that mainstream British society does not reflect their traditional values. And in searching for their own identity, they become fundamentalists of many types, social, cultural, political and religious.

International authorities have been concerned about the African continent as a training ground for terrorists, particularly since the Taliban were ousted 11 from Afghanistan. The 1998 al-Qaida attacks against the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and the 2002 bombing of an Israeli-owned hotel in Kenya showed the links between Africa and international terror. And several of those arrested in connection with the 2004 Madrid train bombings were of Moroccan origin.

The US has organized the Pan Sahel Initiative, begun in 2003, which sent American troops to train soldiers in Mali, Mauritania, Chad and Niger. The Trans-Saharan Counter-Terrorism Initiative, launched in June, dispatched US troops to train soldiers in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Senegal and Nigeria to combat terrorism.

Some African Countries Harbor al Qaida

Martha Crenshaw, a professor of government at Wesleyan University and an authority on terrorism, says it is not surprising that some African countries could be used as launching grounds for terror.

Martha Crenshaw: These are areas in which the states are extremely weak, they often don't like to be called 'failed states,' but they're certainly states in which there are large, 'lawless zones,' as we call them, where the authority of the central government is non-existent, and therefore where training, recruitment, conspiratorial 12 plotting can all take place. Furthermore, these are areas in which there has been conflict and fighting.

Somalia, which lacks a functioning government, has long been cited as a possible training ground for terrorists. Matt Bryden directs the International Crisis Group's Horn of Africa Project. His organization recently released a report on the possible links between al-Qaida and Somalia.

Matt Bryden: So far, the al-Qaida presence in Somalia seems to be limited to those who were responsible for the Kenyan attacks, most of whom are fugitives 14, and they are under suspicion, surveillance, and pressure from counter-terrorism efforts that [so] they don't seem to be able to organize a network effectively, but we're talking about less than a half dozen people probably.

Better Government in Some African Countries May Stem Terror

Somalia's transitional government is now attempting to create local administrations throughout the country. It is Somalia's first broad-based government since 1991, when warlords overthrew 15 dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. According to Matt Bryden, the lack of a stable government in Somalia contributes to the possibility of it becoming a terrorist haven 16.

Matt Bryden: We argue the solution has got to be the return of a legitimate 17 and stable government in Somalia. What the problem at the moment is that we have a government that is divided.

Unstable 18 countries with terrorist networks cause upheaval 19 both at home and abroad, according to terrorist expert Martha Crenshaw. She says they create a climate of desperation and conflict, particularly in immigrant communities.

Martha Crenshaw: You have a large number of refugees and diasporas, people fleeing outside the country, and taking with them that legacy 20 of conflict. And we know there are Muslim populations in these areas in which al-Qaida did try to recruit and where people who were involved in conflicts in these countries did go to Afghanistan in the early days.

Terrorists in Britain

Martha Crenshaw says the London bombings underscore the isolation and frustration 7 in some immigrant communities that could lead to involvement in terrorism. She says authorities should be more aware of the attraction of radical ideologies 21 to disillusioned 23 youth.

Martha Crenshaw: We have young people, and we're dealing 24 with young men, by and large, they are susceptible 25 to the appeals of an extremist ideology 26 that they perhaps are searching for an identity, a larger cause within which to subsume themselves.

Most analysts 27 agree that the wide-ranging campaign against terrorism both on the African continent and elsewhere will continue. They say Africa's unstable governments, poverty and proximity 28 to Europe and the Middle East make it a likely outpost for terrorist activity. And the role that Africa plays, whether through counter-terror initiatives or African communities abroad, will be significant.

For focus, I’m Sarah Williams.

注释：

ancestry [5Ansistri] n. 家族，血统

Somalia [sEu5mB:liE] n. 索马里

Eritrea [eri5triE] n. 厄立特里亚

harbor [5hB:bE] vt. 心怀，怀有

resentment [ri5zentmEnt] n. 怨恨，愤恨

Tanzania [7tAnzE5ni:E] n. 坦桑尼亚（东非国家）

Mauritania [7mRri5teiniE] n. 毛里塔尼亚

Niger [5naidVE] n. 尼日尔（非洲中西部国家）

Algeria [Al5dViEriE] n. 阿尔及利亚（北非国家）

Tunisia [tju:5niziE] n. 突尼斯

Senegal [7seni5^C:l] n. 塞内加尔（西非国家）

conspiratorial [kEn7spirE5tC:riEl] adj. 阴谋的，阴谋者的

fugitive 13 [5fju:dVitiv] n. 逃亡者，亡命者

surveillance [sE:5veilEns] n. 监视，监督

upheaval [Qp5hi:v(E)l] n. 动乱；剧变

diaspora [dai5AspErE] n. 流散在外的犹太人，海外犹太人

disillusion 22 [7disi5lu:VEn] v. 醒悟

outpost [5autpEust] n. 前哨