WASHINGTON: Sudan on Monday accused US actor George Clooney of encouraging "the drums of war" ahead of January referendums in southern Sudan and the oil-rich Abyei region that could split the country.
The Sudanese embassy in Washington took exception to an article that Clooney and John Prendergast, the head of the anti-genocide Enough Project, published in Sunday’s Washington Post about their recent mission to Sudan.
"They called their excursion to South Sudan and Abyei a ‘Fact Finding mission,’" the embassy said in a statement.
"Yet a single glance at the article will leave no doubt that this is the same tired campaign of misinformation that never fails to beat the drums of war," the embassy said.
Southern Sudan fought a two-decade civil war against the north in which some 1.5 million people died either directly in conflict or through disease and famine.
The war ended with a 2005 peace deal, which included a provision that the south would hold a referendum Jan. 9 on whether to secede or remain part of the country.
A similar referendum will be held in the oil-rich Abyei region, which straddles the border.
After meeting US President Barack Obama last week, Clooney and Prendergast said the international response to what would be a devastating war in Sudan had been tepid.
They called for tougher action by European nations, as well as China and Egypt, against President Omar Al-Bashir’s government, based in the northern capital of Khartoum.
