Jun 26, 2008 (DVB), An unidentified woman who staged a solo demonstration near Sule pagoda in downtown Rangoon yesterday afternoon was arrested by government authorities shortly after she began her protest, eyewitnesses said.

A bystander who witnessed the protest said the woman began her demonstration yesterday afternoon.

"It happened at around 4.30pm yesterday , a woman staged a solo demonstration at the junction of Sule pagoda road and Maha Bandoola road, by the west corner of the Sule pagoda," the witness said.

"There were about five riot policemen on the scene and the crowd of bystanders grew bigger and bigger."

Soon after the protest began, a truck pulled up and about 10 more riot police officers equipped with batons and shields came out of it.

"People started to panic when they saw them," the witness said.

"[The police] dragged the woman onto the truck and they were gone within 10 or 15 minutes," he said.

"Everything happened so quickly , she didn’t have a lot of time to protest."

The National League for Democracy could not confirm whether or not the woman was a member of their organisation.

Reporting by Naw Say Phaw