Nov 8, 2007 (DVB), A Burmese military officer who provided water to monks involved in protests in late September in Mandalay has fled his battalion after a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Captain Win Htun Aung from light infantry battalion 3 in Mandalay handed bottles of water to protesting monks on 26 and 27 September.

By the end of October, the military command headquarters had issued an order for his arrest, and so he ran away to avoid detention, according to military sources on the China-Burma border.

Win Htun Aung's current whereabouts could not be disclosed.

By Htet Aung Kyaw