Spielberg Quits '08 Olympics Over Darfur

Filmmaker slams China for failing to pressure Sudan
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 12, 2008 7:33 PM CST
Spielberg Quits '08 Olympics Over Darfur
Visitors walk along a road in front of the National Stadium in Beijing Tuesday Feb. 12, 2008. The stadium will be the main site of the 2008 Olympics. (AP Photo/Greg Baker)   (Associated Press)

Steven Spielberg stepped down today as a 2008 Beijing Olympics adviser over China’s links to the Darfur genocide, the BBC reports. “I find that my conscience will not allow me to continue business as usual,” the filmmaker said. China has been criticized for buying oil from the Sudan, selling it weapons, and supporting it at the UN while Khartoum has waged war in Darfur.

A group of Nobel Peace Prize laureates and ex-Olympians also sent an open letter to China's president today in honor of a "Global Day of Action" to aid Darfur. "We are all aware of the tremendous potential for China to help bring an end to the conflict in Darfur," the letter said. (More 2008 Beijing Olympics stories.)

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