20110402
reuters

JUBA, Sudan (Reuters) - Police in south Sudan seized 2,500 copies of a newspaper before it could be distributed, its editor said on Saturday, stoking fears of a media crackdown ahead of the region's independence in July.

The south voted in January to secede from the north, but a long-awaited media law is yet to be passed and publications operating in the region emerging from decades of civil war say they do not know where they stand on press freedoms.

Michael Koma, editor of the independent twice-weekly Juba Post, which is printed in the north and flown south for distribution, said Thursday's edition was taken by "public security police" at the airport.

"They confiscated our copies at Juba airport because of a story about George Athor," Koma told Reuters. "They asked us to explain how what we were printing was possible, that Athor would attack Juba ... we were quoting a spokesman."

Renegade army officer George Athor rebelled after disputing 2010 elections in the south and has since clashed with the South Sudan army, including an attack in February killing 200 people.

Athor says rebels from two of Sudan's oil-producing states are coordinating with him, raising fears the south will struggle to control its vast territory after independence.

The Juba Post article quoted a spokesman they linked to Athor as saying "forces loyal to General Athor will launch a heavy attack in Juba shortly before South Sudan hoists her national flag."