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Nick Mason of Pink Floyd
It comes as Sudan marks the fifth anniversary of the North-South Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which ended a devastating 22-year war between majority Muslim north Sudan and the mainly Christian and animist south.
The CPA also paves the way for Sudan to hold its first general election in 24 years in April ahead of a key referendum on southern independence in 2011.
Celebrity drummers are taking part in a "beat for peace" film that features a drumroll starting in the war-wracked nation "and being picked up and passed like a baton between drummers in over 15 countries" -- including Brazil, Egypt, France, Japan, South Africa and the United States.
Drummers will include Radiohead's Phil Selway, Stewart Copeland of The Police, Nick Mason of Pink Floyd, as well as Egyptian musicians Yehia Khalil and Mohammed Munir and Ghana's Mustapha Tettey Addy.
Nine organisations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the US group Save Darfur have joined efforts to organise the campaign along with the drummers.
Gatherings are due to take place in a dozen cities across the world on Saturday when the film will be launched on www.sudan365.org and the front page of YouTube, organisers said in a statement.
"I wanted to be involved in this project because I think music is such a powerful way of bringing people together," Selway was quoted as saying.
"Hopefully this film will show that together people can make a huge noise and through this film I hope people's focus will be brought back to what is happening in the Sudan over this very important next year," Selway said.
Five years after the end of the north-south civil war, the political situation remains tense between the two sides while south Sudan continues to be rocked by bloodshed and deadly tribal clashes.
At least 140 people were killed in the remote Wunchuei region of southern Warrap state over the past week, the United Nations reported on Thursday.
The dead were from the Dinka people, and local sources suggested they were killed by a rival Nuer group, but this could not be confirmed.
Since 2003 the volatile region of Darfur in western Sudan has also been the scene of a devastating civil war in which 300,000 people have been killed, according to the United Nations. Khartoum puts the death toll at 10,000.
"The next 365 days will be critical for the people of Sudan," said drummer Jamie Catto, founding member of 1 Giant Leap and Faithless, and the brainchild of the film.
"This global drumbeat is a cry for positive action from world leaders to prevent conflict from returning."
Egypt's Mohammed Munir added: "Sudan has experienced too much pain and suffering in the last three decades. Now is the time to make sure that the future is one of peace and prosperity for all those in Darfur and the rest of Sudan."
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The CPA also paves the way for Sudan to hold its first general election in 24 years in April ahead of a key referendum on southern independence in 2011.
Celebrity drummers are taking part in a "beat for peace" film that features a drumroll starting in the war-wracked nation "and being picked up and passed like a baton between drummers in over 15 countries" -- including Brazil, Egypt, France, Japan, South Africa and the United States.
Drummers will include Radiohead's Phil Selway, Stewart Copeland of The Police, Nick Mason of Pink Floyd, as well as Egyptian musicians Yehia Khalil and Mohammed Munir and Ghana's Mustapha Tettey Addy.
Nine organisations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the US group Save Darfur have joined efforts to organise the campaign along with the drummers.
Gatherings are due to take place in a dozen cities across the world on Saturday when the film will be launched on www.sudan365.org and the front page of YouTube, organisers said in a statement.
"I wanted to be involved in this project because I think music is such a powerful way of bringing people together," Selway was quoted as saying.
"Hopefully this film will show that together people can make a huge noise and through this film I hope people's focus will be brought back to what is happening in the Sudan over this very important next year," Selway said.
Five years after the end of the north-south civil war, the political situation remains tense between the two sides while south Sudan continues to be rocked by bloodshed and deadly tribal clashes.
At least 140 people were killed in the remote Wunchuei region of southern Warrap state over the past week, the United Nations reported on Thursday.
The dead were from the Dinka people, and local sources suggested they were killed by a rival Nuer group, but this could not be confirmed.
Since 2003 the volatile region of Darfur in western Sudan has also been the scene of a devastating civil war in which 300,000 people have been killed, according to the United Nations. Khartoum puts the death toll at 10,000.
"The next 365 days will be critical for the people of Sudan," said drummer Jamie Catto, founding member of 1 Giant Leap and Faithless, and the brainchild of the film.
"This global drumbeat is a cry for positive action from world leaders to prevent conflict from returning."
Egypt's Mohammed Munir added: "Sudan has experienced too much pain and suffering in the last three decades. Now is the time to make sure that the future is one of peace and prosperity for all those in Darfur and the rest of Sudan."
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