George Clooney meets Obama

President Barack Obama met with activist-actor George Clooney at the White House to discuss US involvement in Sudan ahead of a critical election early next year in Africa's largest nation. Clooney recently returned from Sudan, and is asking the US and world community to use international pressure and robust diplomacy to prevent violence ahead of the January 9 election. The election is an independence referendum on south Sudan that is likely to split the country in two, and there are fears that the vote could lead to a new outbreak of north-south civil war. Obama and Clooney were joined in their talks by activist John Prendergast, cofounder of the Enough Project, an initiative to end genocide. Prendergast said U.S. involvement in containing violence before the election could be a game-changer for the Sudanese people.