George Clooney has been granted a private meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama next week (begs23Feb09) to discuss the crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Clooney, a United Nations messenger of peace, will ask Obama to help end a long and bloody conflict which is thought to have killed millions of innocent refugees.

The actor, currently touring the neighboring African nation of Chad, says "We want him (Obama) to appoint a high-level, full-time diplomat to negotiate and work hard every day for a peace treaty."

Clooney notes that the situation in Darfur has not improved since he first visited the region in 2006. He adds, “I was here three years ago and in some ways there’s not a whole lot of difference. It’s sort of status quo. The problem is that the status quo is unacceptable.” (IG/WNVTO/IG)

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