The Foreign Minister also expressed his appreciation for “the noble aims of the Darfur campaign and Clooney’s efforts,” the statement added.  Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir “will find that we are not trying to invade Sudan,” he told students during a talk at Cairo’s American University.
Egypt has been trying to mediate with its southern neighbor Sudan over resolving the Darfur crisis, in which more than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million driven from their homes by three years of fighting.

Last week, Clooney was in China, which has close ties to the Khartoum government and is one of Sudan’s biggest customers for oil. Beijing has resisted any attempt by the U.N. to force Sudan to accept U.N. peacekeepers in Darfur.

Sudan has rejected deployment of a U.N. force in Darfur, insisting instead that an overwhelmed 7,000-member African Union peacekeeping mission there should be strengthened.

Clooney, who is accompanied on his trip by fellow actor Don Cheadle and two former Olympians, said he was not carrying a particular political agenda. “We are here simply to ask questions and hopefully to find answers about Darfur.”

Clooney is well known for his activism and has been urging Congress and the United Nations to help end atrocities in the Darfur region.

In September, Clooney and Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel met with U.N. Security Council members to urge them to act on Darfur. Clooney and his father, Nick Clooney, visited the war ravaged region in April.

The conflict began in 2003, when rebels of ethnic African tribes took up arms against the Arab-dominated government, complaining of discrimination and mistreatment. The government is accused of responding with a brutal counterinsurgency led by Arab militias.

Among those traveling with the actor-director were Kenyan Olympian Tegla Loroupe, who serves as a UN ambassador of sport; American speed skater and gold medal winner Joey Cheek; Cheadle, one of Clooney’s “Ocean’s 11″ co-stars and an Academy Award nominated actor for “Hotel Rwanda”; and David Pressman, a human rights lawyer and former aide to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

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Why did Clooney choose China and Egypt? The countries are on the opposite ends of a debate on how to help Sudan. China, for example, has been supplying Sudan with arms while buying a huge volume of oil from the wracked African country. Nevertheless, China has sided with the Sudanese government in keeping out U.N. peacekeepers.

Egypt, on the other hand, is seen as a key mediator in the Sudan crisis. Recently, Egypt proposed sending in a peacekeeping force not from the UN but from African and Arab countries to try and stabilize Darfur. Egypt was backed by several other countries including France, but Sudan turned them down in the end.

Clooney, who’s been passionate about helping the people of Darfur, is apparently hoping to bring good news to Cairo from Beijing. It’s kind of amazing, isn’t it? Two movie actors and two well known athletes are doing a job that has not been accomplished by professional diplomats.

Indeed, Clooney has not been alone on his trip. Among his companions are Oscar nominated actor Don Cheadle, who starred in the Oscar nominated film Hotel Rwanda. Cheadle is devoted to ending the Sudanese famine and mass deaths before it becomes like Rwanda in 1994.

Also on the trip are American Olympic heroes including speed skater Joey Cheek. Why Cheek? In February the Olympian donated his $25,000 gold medal award from the United States Olympic Committee to support Sudanese child refugees from the Darfur region.

Since China is the largest investor in Sudan, and China is about to sponsor the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, Clooney and Cheadle are bringing Olympians presumably to suggest there could be an Olympic support if changes are not made in Sudan right away. There is already a lot of talk on the internet cross referencing Darfur and the Olympics, something the Chinese could not be too happy about.

Clooney, I’m told, will end this mission with some kind of report to the UN, and maybe another visit and speech similar to the one he gave last May. Clooney keeps insisting he doesn’t want to run for political office, but at this point, I’d say give him time. In five or six years, he very well could be—if not should be—the junior senator from Kentucky.

Tuesday , December 12, 2006  By Roger Friedman  Fox News

Since 2003, about 200,000 people have been killed in an ongoing ethnic conflict in Darfur, a region of western Sudan. Another 2.5 million people have been displaced.

Among those traveling with the actor were Kenyan Olympian Tegla Loroupe, who serves as a United Nations ambassador of sport; American speed skater and gold medal winner Joey Cheek; Cheadle, one of Clooney’s “Ocean’s Eleven” costars; and David Pressman, a human rights lawyer and former aide to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

Since visiting Darfur in April with Pressman, Clooney has waged a public campaign — attending rallies, appearing on talk shows and lobbying politicians — to push for an end to the violence.

In September, Clooney and Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel met with U.N. Security Council members to urge them to act on Darfur.

Clooney asked that an international peacekeeping force be assembled to effectively protect civilians in the region.  (LA Times)