While other stars use cold hard cash to send political messages one Hollywood heavyweight is using her freedom. Mia Farrow just announced that she offered to give up her rights as a citizen of the United States to ensure an ailing Darfur rebel leader receives safe passage out of a local hospital. The offer was put into writing in a letter the actress sent to Sudan’s president and posted on her website.
According to Farrow, the rebel leader, Suleiman Jamous, has been a key link between Darfur rebels and aid workers in the war-torn Sudanese region. The 62-year-old actress says Jamous must leave the country in order to receive the medical care he needs to survive. According to Farrow, Jamous is suffering from abdominal problems, and is currently being treated at a U.N. hospital outside Darfur. While the United Nations has given Jamous the okay to leave, he is reluctant to depart because he says he fears arrest or government reprisals if he does.
Farrow has been to Darfur a number of times as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador and subsequently has forged a rapport with the ailing leader. In her letter to Sudan’s president the actress wrote: “As you are undoubtedly aware, Mr. Jamous is in need of a medical procedure that cannot be carried out in Kadugli. I am therefore offering to take Mr. Jamous’s place, to exchange my freedom for his in the knowledge of his importance to the civilians of Darfur and in the conviction that he will apply his energies toward creating the just and lasting peace that the Sudanese people deserve and hope for.”
As of today the Sudanese government has not responded to Farrow’s plea. However, news reports say that several political leaders in the region are considering her offer along with separate written pleas by other activists, including South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
So what’s all the fuss over Jamous?
According to Farrow, the physically frail leader heads one of Darfur’s largest rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Army. Among humanitarian workers Jamous is considered the leader who could best guarantee the safety of aid convoys, which often come under attack in the region. What’s more, activists tell news reporters that Jamous is the key to restarting negotiations between rebel groups and the government, which ended after last year’s peace deal failed to end the violence. Jamous was seized and injured last year and transferred to the U.N. facility for treatment. Since then Jamous has faced threats from rival rebel chiefs and some government forces.
What do you think about Farrow’s offer? I know George Clooney would be proud.
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