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Clooney wants Darfur action
13/12/2007 20:15 - (SA)
Rome - Actor George Clooney made a fresh appeal on Thursday for action to end the conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan, as he and fellow star Don Cheadle received a prize for their work alerting people to the crisis.
Nobel laureate and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev co-presented the Peace Summit Award to the pair, along with the mayor of Rome Walter Veltroni, at the annual gathering in Rome of Nobel peace laureates.
"Laws have been passed, millions of dollars have been spent, treaties have been signed and sanctions adopted but they have had no success," said Clooney.
China should put pressure on Sudan, he said, adding: "I call on the Arab world to stop considering this conflict as a civil war. It's a genocide."
Greater commitment to solve crisis
China, Sudan's biggest foreign trade partner, has been criticised in the past for failing to exert pressure on President Omar al-Beshir to stop the bloodshed in Darfur.
Clooney also urged the United States to make a greater commitment to solving the crisis.
As well as Gorbachev, the ceremony was attended by former Nobel peace prize laureates including the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and Poland's Soviet-era founder of the Solidarity union, Lech Walesa.
Clooney and Cheadle set up "Not on Our Watch" with the support of fellow stars Matt Damon and Brad Pitt. It works in collaboration with the International Rescue organisation.
The Darfur conflict has killed at least 200 000 people and forced two million from their homes, according to UN figures.
- AFP
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South Africa
