Clooney: 'Excitement' for Sudan Peace

After Decades of horrible strife, The country of Sudan may be close to finding peace, and among the many feeling excitement about this prospect is actor George Clooney, who has worked for years using his celebrity to draw attention to this issue.

Said Clooney bout the hopes for a new era of peace in the war-torn African country, "For the first time since I've been here, there's a real excitement here that there's a feeling that a new nation is going to be formed. It's inevitable and I think everyone is very excited about that. We're all optimistic, I don't think there's many people who thought that the government of South Sudan would be able to put together a coalition of many of their past enemies and to put this together to make it work"

Clooney: 'Excitement' for Sudan Peace
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The "Up in the Air" star has been involved in Sudan for years, having campaigned actively against violence in Darfur, western Sudan. He co-founded a group called Not On Our Watch with actors Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, and others. It's devoted to halting atrocities around the world. At the end of December, Clooney also launched a satellite surveillance project in the country to help monitor violence during the January vote. The program will use satellite images to assess the situation on the ground for any signs of conflict, monitor hotspots in real time and post the findings online. "The idea we had is to be one of many tools to monitor specifically troop movements and humanitarian issues along the border where it's really disputed and where the real danger lies," Clooney said.

Clooney: 'Excitement' for Sudan Peace