George Clooney, handcuffed, later released

Actor George Clooney and his father, Nick Clooney, were released from a Washington DC jail on Friday, hours after being arrested during a protest outside the Sudanese Embassy.

In the picture: George Clooney is being led to a police vehicle after being arrested. He was released several hours later after paying a fine of $100.

Others arrested along with Clooney were civil rights leaders Ben Jealous and Martin Luther King III, and actor and comedian Dick Gregory.

George Clooney along with the demonstrators was protesting the escalating humanitarian emergency in Sudan that threatens the lives of 500,000 people.

Speaking to reporters after his release, Clooney said the aim of Friday's arrests were to "bring attention to an ongoing emergency," adding that one of the ways to do that was to get arrested.

He was arrested after being warned three times not to cross a police line outside the embassy.

Journalist Nick Clooney said both he and his son had been struck by the tragedy in Sudan since they first visited the area in 2006.

Clooney lends support to the protesters. The demonstrators accuse Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir, of provoking a humanitarian crisis and blocking food and aid from entering the Nuba Mountains in the county's border region with South Sudan.

A YouTube video Clooney recently posted online from his trip to Sudan appears to show a Chinese-made missile being used against the Nuba community.

Clooney asserts that the Sudanese government is deliberately witholding food supplies to the population of the arid, isolated mountain region, which has a long history of conflict with Khartoum.

In the picture: Clooney with father.

Clooney said before his arrest that he can only hope to draw attention to the crisis in Sudan but that he doesn't know if any progress has been made.

In the picture: George Clooney addresses the reporters before his arrest.

8. The actor has been involved with other political and humanitarian issues too in the past. He actively participated in Save Darfur campaign in 2006 and is a member with Not On Our Watch, an organisation that focuses global attention and resources to stop and prevent mass atrocities.

After his release Clooney told reporters that Friday's arrest was his first and, he hoped, his last.

The actor with activist and actor Dick Gregory during the protest.