Burma Arrests Activist Linked to Cyclone Aid

Dissident comedian Zarganar taken away by secret police
By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 5, 2008 6:58 AM CDT
Burma Arrests Activist Linked to Cyclone Aid
Pigs scavenge for food on Chaungtha beach in the Irrawaddy Delta region 157 km (98 miles) west of Yangon, Myanmar, Tuesday, June 3, 2008. The village at Chaungtha beach was spared damage with only debris washing up after cyclone Nargis left 78,000 people dead and another 56,000 missing, mostly in the...   (AP Photo)

The Burmese junta has arrested a leading activist who led a private aid program for victims of last month's Cyclone Nargis. Zarganar, a top comedian in Burma who was also arrested during September's protests, was taken away by secret police last night, Reuters reports. The junta continues to block aid to millions of survivors, and today four American warships abandoned efforts to provide aid.

Police also seized Zarganar's computer and several banned films, including the latest Rambo movie, which features US Vietnam vets taking on Burma's military rulers on behalf of Christian ethnic Karen rebels, Reuters notes. (More Burma stories.)

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