This is for real: Actor George Clooney emerged from an Oval Office meeting with President Barack Obama Monday night

Clooney: W.H. to appoint Darfur envoy
By CAROL E. LEE
2/23/09 9:44 PM EST Updated: 2/23/09 10:40 PM EST
from Politico

George Clooney speaks at a news conference in front of the White House.

Actor George Clooney emerged from an Oval Office meeting with President Barack Obama Monday night to say the White House will appoint an envoy to Darfur, the Sudanese region ravaged by war and famine.

“They said they would appoint a full-time, high-level envoy that would report directly to the White House,” Clooney told reporters. "This would be a huge policy step."

Of the Obama administration's commitment to Darfur, Clooney said, "It's good to hear because there was some concern that this could fall off the radar."

The White House didn’t respond immediately to a request for comment on Clooney’s remarks — which amounted to a highly unconventional, and seemingly ad-hoc way of revealing Obama’s thinking about such a key foreign policy decision.

Clooney, who has traveled to the region repeatedly, said the administration “assured me that Darfur is one of a small handful of foreign policy reviews being taken at the senior-most level.”

In separate meetings with Obama, then Vice President Joe Biden, Clooney asked them to make Darfur one of their top priorities and to appoint an envoy. "They assured me and wanted me to assure the rest of whoever it is that is listening that this is high on their agenda," Clooney said.

The actor said his visit to the White House came as the International Criminal Court is expected to indict Sudan’s president, Omar al-Bashir. “You have to make it known that the actions of this government are not acceptable,” he said.

Clooney, who recently visited the region with New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, said of the trip, “It was enlightening in a lot of ways."

He said a U.S. envoy is a pivotal step toward turning around the situation in Darfur, but added, "It's a difficult situation. It's not going to get much better for a long time."

Asked if he discussed any other foreign policy issues with the president or vice president, Clooney laughed. "No, I'm not there as some policy nut,” he said. “I was just there to tell them what I saw and hope that there was some way that I could amplify anything that they were doing.”
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