Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, was rushed away from a U.N. camp in South Sudan today when people protesting South Sudan’s president descended on the event she was attending, a U.S. official told ABC News.
Haley was meeting with civilians affected by the conflict in South Sudan at a “protection of civilians center” run by the U.N. when a group of around 100 people demonstrating against President Salva Kiir came nearby, the official said.
Haley’s security team determined it was not safe and escorted her out, cutting the event short, according to the official, who did not believe the protesters made contact with Haley.
Haley continued with the rest of her schedule elsewhere in the country before flying out of the capital, Juba, as scheduled. She is now in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the official said.
Haley met with Kiir earlier in the day, but Kiir was not at the event at the U.N. camp. After the meeting, Haley said that her conversation with Kiir was “very frank” and that the United States had lost trust in South Sudan’s government, according to the U.N. mission in South Sudan.
