South Sudan Activist Flees to US, Says Kiir Wants to Kill Him

South Sudanese Economist Peter Biar Ajak embraces Jared Genser as he arrives at Dulles International Airport in Virginia, after fleeing Kenya with his family to the U.S., July 23, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis
South Sudanese Economist Peter Biar Ajak embraces Jared Genser as he arrives at Dulles International Airport in Virginia, after fleeing Kenya with his family to the U.S., July 23, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis
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South Sudan Activist Flees to US, Says Kiir Wants to Kill Him

South Sudanese Economist Peter Biar Ajak embraces Jared Genser as he arrives at Dulles International Airport in Virginia, after fleeing Kenya with his family to the U.S., July 23, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis
South Sudanese Economist Peter Biar Ajak embraces Jared Genser as he arrives at Dulles International Airport in Virginia, after fleeing Kenya with his family to the U.S., July 23, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis

A prominent South Sudanese activist has fled to Washington with the help of the US government, which issued emergency visas to him and his family after he said South Sudan’s president ordered him abducted or killed.

Peter Biar Ajak arrived in the US late Thursday after weeks of hiding in Kenya and an anxious departure complicated by COVID-19 restrictions.

“The last few weeks have been a bit terrifying. Extremely terrifying,” the 36-year-old activist told The Associated Press shortly after landing.

Ajak, a Harvard graduate and economist who helped shape his young country’s national security system — one that imprisoned him years later — was tipped off by “very senior” officials back home, his lawyer Jared Genser said.

The emergency visas were “highly, highly, highly unusual,” Genser said, and involved discussions with the State Department, which decided the threat was credible.

A State Department spokesperson noted Ajak's announced arrival and referred all questions on his immigration status to the Department of Homeland Security.

South Sudan government spokesmen Ateny Wek Ateny and Michael Makuei didn't respond to requests for comment.

Ajak now plans to resume his work and, if the chance arises, meet President Donald Trump to thank him for the pressure US government officials have applied: “It would be my great honor.”

According to AFP, South Sudan plunged into war in 2013 after President Salva Kiir accused his former vice president Riek Machar of plotting a coup.

A peace deal in September 2018 led to the formation of a unity government in February with Machar serving as first vice president -- the latest attempt by the two men to rule together.

UN special envoy David Shearer warned on the country's ninth anniversary of independence this month that there had been a "stalling of the peace process" and "escalation in conflict between armed groups" in several parts of the country which had led to deaths and displacement.



Death Toll from US Winter Storms Grows to 14

HYDEN, KENTUCKY - FEBRUARY 17: A flooded road that leads to a neighborhood is seen on February 17, 2025 in Hyden, Kentucky. (Photo by Jon Cherry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
HYDEN, KENTUCKY - FEBRUARY 17: A flooded road that leads to a neighborhood is seen on February 17, 2025 in Hyden, Kentucky. (Photo by Jon Cherry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
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Death Toll from US Winter Storms Grows to 14

HYDEN, KENTUCKY - FEBRUARY 17: A flooded road that leads to a neighborhood is seen on February 17, 2025 in Hyden, Kentucky. (Photo by Jon Cherry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
HYDEN, KENTUCKY - FEBRUARY 17: A flooded road that leads to a neighborhood is seen on February 17, 2025 in Hyden, Kentucky. (Photo by Jon Cherry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

The death toll from powerful winter storms in the central and eastern United States has risen to at least 14, officials said Monday, after floods, gale-force winds and bitterly cold temperatures swept the region.

The National Weather Service (NWS) warned on Monday of a winter storm system carrying arctic air that would cause "record cold," with wind chill expected to hit as low as -60 degrees Fahrenheit (-51 degrees Celsius) in Montana and North Dakota.

"I've got more tough news. The death toll in Kentucky has now risen to 12," said Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear in a social media post on Monday, raising the toll from eight a day earlier.

West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey said on Monday his state had also seen at least one death from the weather, AFP reported.

"We have one confirmed fatality at this time," he told a press briefing, warning that further flooding was expected. "There are still several people who are missing."

In addition, one person died in the southern city of Atlanta, Georgia. The victim was killed when an "extremely large" tree fell on his house early Sunday, fire official Scott Powell told local media.

Most of the dead in Kentucky, Beshear said in an earlier news conference, drowned when trapped in their vehicles by fast-rising floodwaters. The victims included a mother and her child.

The governor urged people to stay off roads across the state, where local and federal authorities have declared a state of emergency.

Beshear said more than 1,000 people had been rescued by first responders within 24 hours.

In its Monday advisory, the NWS warned that the cold weather system would impact a vast area, sending temperatures tumbling in the central plains, the eastern seaboard and as far south as the Gulf coast.

"A bitter cold arctic airmass is expected to continue impacting the north-central US while also spreading further south and east over the next few days," the advisory said.

Power to thousands of homes had been restored by Monday, but more than 50,000 customers remained without electricity in the states of West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland, according to monitoring website poweroutage.us.