Clooney donates $5.6m to fund U.N. helicopters in Sudan

Washington, Apr 07 : American actor George Clooney recently donated 5.6 million dollars to the United Nations peacekeeping force in war-torn Sudan, to enable the team to buy a fleet of helicopters.

The U.N. Messenger of Peace has become a leading celebrity advocate for action against genocide in Sudan after filming a documentary about the ongoing violence and refugee crisis there last year (07).

Clooney has also gotten his 'Ocean's Thirteen' cast mates Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Don Cheadle to help in providing humanitarian aid to the region, by setting up the Not On Our Watch organisation with their help.

When the 46-year-old actor learned of the dilemma of the U.N. peacekeeping force Unamid in Darfur, he immediately doled out the money to aid the cause.

"George was horrified by the Sudanese government's 'scorched earth' (bomb) attacks on western Darfur last month," Contactmusic quoted a source as saying.

"And when he was told that Unamid officials felt they could have done something about the attacks if they'd had the right equipment - they need 18 helicopters and so far have none - he decided to put his money where his mouth is," the source added.

ANI