Clooney brings Hollywood punch to Darfur campaign

By Tony Czuczka Apr 28, 2006, 5:49 GMT

Washington - George Clooney admits he is a latecomer to humanitarian causes, but the Hollywood heart-throb is making up for it by campaigning for an end to three years of killing in Darfur.

The Oscar-winning actor and director just spent eight days in Sudan and neighbouring Chad, talking to Darfur victims about massacres of family members, rapes and life in refugee camps.

Part of a growing campaign for US President George W Bush to take bolder action on Darfur, the trip was timed to highlight Sunday's big 'Rally to Stop Genocide' in Washington, which Clooney plans to attend.

A political liberal who usually has few kind words for Bush, Clooney was earnest and low-key as he explained his activism Thursday to a packed room of reporters two blocks from the White House.

'This is not a political issue,' he said. 'There is only right and wrong. It is the first genocide of the 21st century.'

Clooney, 44, travelled to the region with his journalist father and a cameraman to record testimony from the victims of Darfur, where Arab militias backed by the Sudanese government have been killing, raping, pillaging and driving residents from their homes.

He recalled a 'waif' of a woman who asked him through a translator when he would be back.

'We told the translator to say, 'Soon.' She laughed and said, 'They have all said that,'' he said.

Clooney, whose film Good Night, And Good Luck championed press freedom, said US media could help by reporting more on Darfur.

'I was late to the game in Africa in many ways,' he said. 'My job is to keep this on the front burner as often as possible. (...) I know it's not sexy.'

Just because the US government is tied down in places like Iraq is no excuse for lagging action to protect people in Darfur, Clooney said, recalling the genocide in Rwanda a decade ago.

'Of course we're slow to act. We always are,' he said.

More than 180,000 civilians have been killed in Darfur, according to UN estimates, but relief groups put the figure higher. At least 2 million people have been displaced, sending a recent wave of political unrest across neighbouring Chad.

Bush has called the events in Darfur 'genocide.' On Thursday, shortly after Clooney's high-profile event, Bush authorized the freezing of assets of four Sudanese leaders accused of involvement in war crimes. The order could be extended to other suspects.

Clooney called for a more forceful response, urging Bush to invest political capital in rallying international support for a tougher, UN-led peace force or a NATO role in Darfur.

Two US senators flanking Clooney - Sam Brownback of Bush's Republicans and opposition Democrat Barack Obama - broadly agreed.

Brownback praised Clooney for getting involved. 'You could just sit at home,' he said, drawing a laugh from Clooney.