Clooney swaps Oscars for Obama

By Ruth Doherty on Wednesday 25 February 2009

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George Clooney, Celebrity news, Marie Claire

George Clooney swapped glitz for grit as he spurned the Oscars for a serious meeting with President Barack Obama about the crisis in Darfur.

The Oscar-winning actor appeared on CNN's Larry King Live on Monday and spoke of his visit earlier that morning with Obama to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Sudan.

Clooney revealed he told the President about his visits to camps in Chad where 250,000 refugees live – but downplayed any risks he may have taken going there.

'I don't think people should be going there and coming back and saying how it affected them,' Clooney told King via satellite from the White House lawn.

'I think somehow we should all know that these people are hanging on by the skin of their teeth.'

So what does he want to do about it?

Clooney, named a UN Messenger of Peace by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said he asked the President to appoint a full-time regional envoy, who reports directly to the White House, and to ask China to set aside its business interests in the region and pressure Sudan to prevent atrocities.

The refugees need 'what we do best, what we have done best since the start of this country - which is good, robust diplomacy all across the world,' he said.

Clooney also revealed he delivered 250,000 postcards gathered by the Save Darfur organisation to the President and Vice President Joe Biden.

Go, George.

GEORGE CLOONEY PHOTOS

SEE ALL THE OSCARS 2009 PICS HERE