Steven Spielberg meets with French President Sarkozy to discuss humanitarian crisis in Darfur

Steven Spielberg flew to Paris Wednesday to meet privately with French President Nicolas Sarkozy to discuss the continuing crisis in Darfur. This follows by one month his meeting with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on the same issue.

Since his withdrawal as one of the overseas artistic advisors to the Beijing Olympic games, Spielberg has continued to do what he can to call attention to the suffering of the people in the region and to push world leaders to do more to end the violence there. Spielberg said President Sarkozy shares his concern and has shown real leadership on the issue.

Spielberg was also honored during his visit with French President Sarkozy who surprised him by naming Spielberg an officer in the French Legion of Honour for his work in documenting the Holocaust and his efforts to bring attention to the crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan.