GEORGE CLOONEY - CLOONEY BEGS AMERICANS NOT TO IGNORE SUDAN GENOCIDE

CLOONEY BEGS AMERICANS NOT TO IGNORE SUDAN GENOCIDE

LATEST: GEORGE CLOONEY is urging Americans not to turn their backs of the crisis in war-torn Sudan and pretend the genocide isn't for real - because such thinking will come back to haunt them. The actor/humanitarian joined Holocaust survivor ELIE WIESEL to address the United Nations Security Council about the problems in Darfur yesterday (14SEP06) and now is calling on the American public to help him out. Clooney accepts Americans have plenty to worry about, but feels his efforts to stop the genocide should be at the top of everyone's priority lists. He says, "We have to look at absolute cruelty and say, 'If there's something we can do about it we have to stop it.' "Are we going to stand back 10 years from now and somehow try to convince ourselves that we didn't know? We do. How you deal with it will be your legacy." Clooney, who spent five days in Sudan earlier this year (06) interviewing terrified refugees for a documentary, insists time is running out for the Africans being hunted down by the Arab militia in Darfur. The actor explained to UN officials that African Union lawmakers who have been policing the region, have been ordered to pull out on 30 September (06) and Clooney fears the genocide that has claimed more than 200,000 lives in recent years will return and shock the world.