Nov. 21 (Bloomberg) -- The managing editor of an independent Ethiopian newspaper fled to the U.S. because he fears his pardon by the government will be revoked.

“I wanted to live in my beloved country,” Dawit Kebede said in an e-mailed statement today. “But it is not a secure place for those Ethiopians who are reluctant to sell out their souls and conscience.”

Dawit, who served a 19-month prison sentence for his role in post-election unrest in 2005, received the Committee to Protect Journalists’ International Press Freedom award last year, according to the CPJ’s website.

To contact the reporter on this story: William Davison in Addis Ababa at wdavison3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net