Dems, Clooney to protest Sudanese embassy Friday

Academy Award-winning actor George Clooney will join a group of liberal Democrats and religious leaders at the Sudanese embassy Friday to protest the ongoing atrocities committed by the government of Omar al-Bashir.

The protesters — including Democratic Reps. Jim Moran (Va.), John Olver (Mass.) and Jim McGovern (Mass.) — want al-Bashir to end a months-long blockade of food and humanitarian aid to Sudan’s Nuba Mountain and Blue Nile regions. Human rights activists say the blockade threatens hundreds of thousands of Sudanese with illness and starvation.

Fresh from a trip to Sudan, Clooney appeared Wednesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to discuss the blockade and other alleged human rights abuses by the government. He said al-Bashir and his top lieutenants are perpetuating "a campaign of murder" on their own people.

"They're all charged with war crimes and are now proving themselves to be the greatest war criminals of this century by far," Clooney said.

Other activists scheduled to participate in Friday's protest include former Rep. Tom Andrews (D-Maine), president of United to End Genocide; Fred Kramer, head of Jewish World Watch; Martin Luther King III; Nick Clooney, George's father; and John Prendergast, co-founder of the Enough Project, who accompanied Clooney on his recent trip to Sudan.

---