Mar 25, 2008 (DVB), Ko Thaw Zin Naing, who set himself on fire as a protest, has been transferred to Rangoon general hospital's burns unit and is being watched by armed guards, an unidentified hospital official said.

Thaw Zin Naing, who comes from Irrawaddy division, set himself alight at Rangoon's Shwe Dagon pagoda on Friday in a protest against economic hardship.

A journalist in Rangoon said the authorities had also banned the media from reporting any news about the man.

"We only wrote a simple report, which had no political angle, about a man who burned himself at Shwe Dagon pagoda and how he has been now charged with attempted suicide and also with causing public alarm," the journalist said.

"But the story was rejected by the censor board."

The journalist said that Shwe Dagon pagoda is now under heavy security.

Reporting by Naw Say Phaw