A Japanese journalist was arrested in Myanmar at 9 a.m. Sunday while reporting on the election in the border town of Myawaddy.
Forty-nine-year-old Toru Matsumoto, who works for the Tokyo-based APF news agency, was believed to have been taking photographs at the time of his arrest and remains in detention, sources said. He was carrying a pen camera, a passport, an APF press card, a Thai cell phone and an international cell phone, all of which were confiscated by Myanmar authorities, they said.
Matsumoto is believed to have crossed into Myawaddy illegally on foot from the Thai border town of Mae Sot, where a contingent of international media have been covering the election at a distance.
Complicating matters, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), an insurgency group in eastern Myanmar, has since conducted a raid on Myawaddy. The DKBA has taken control of a number of key positions in the township, including the police station, sources said. They added, however, that they did not know whether Matsumoto had been caught up in the raid.