Nobel Peace Laureate Elie Wiesel and Hollywood actor George Clooney have lent their voices at a meeting of the Security Council to urge action to help the people of Darfur, Sudan, where African troops are slated to leave by the end of this month and a planned deployment of UN peacekeepers faces government opposition.
Describing Darfur as this century's first genocide, Clooney warned that millions of Sudanese will die unless it takes ''real and effective measures'' before September 30 to end the killings and rapes in the war-torn region.
The actor, who visited Darfur earlier this year, told the 15-member body that the way it deals with the crisis there 'will be your legacy, your Rwanda, your Cambodia, your Auschwitz'.
The 1986 Nobel Laureate and UN Messenger of Peace Elie Wiesel, who himself survived the notorious Nazi death camp, reminded Council members that the UN Charter obligates them to save lives.
"You hold their destiny in your hands. Be worthy of your mission. Despair is not an option. Hope is," Wiesel said.
The meeting, organised by American envoy John Bolton, was held a day after Secretary-General Kofi Annan issued a stark message that Darfur is headed for disaster unless the world can persuade Khartoum to accept UN peacekeepers to take over the work of the existing African Union peace operation.
Image: George Clooney, United Nations Messenger of Peace Elie Wiesel (R) and his wife Marion (C) arrive at the UN headquarters in New York.
Text: UNI | Photograph: Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images
