Washington, February 25 : Hollywood actor George Clooney, who is a United Nations goodwill ambassador, has denied that his safety was in jeopardy when he visited the African state of Chad with two journalists in an unofficial capacity last week.

He was reacting to recent reports that criticised the U. N. for withdrawing his security escort during the visit he undertook as part of his pledge to highlight the plight of refugees in the war-torn Darfur region.

The actor said that he never felt that his well-being was at risk.

"That''s sort of what happened (the U. N. pulled Clooney''s security). You know, the truth is this wasn''t about my safety. My safety - I was never in jeopardy,” Contactmusic quoted him as telling U. S. TV host Larry King.

"I was with journalists who wanted to go into some areas that weren''t particularly safe. And we decided that we would go. And that wasn''t necessarily part of what the U. N. was looking to do.

"And so we, you know, just went on our own... Our safety was never an issue. It was fine," he added.

U. N. officials maintained that Clooney did not qualify for the organisation''s official protection because he was not travelling in his capacity as their goodwill ambassador. (ANI)