CNN man in Burmese chase
on 12 May 2008
CNNs man in Myanmar, Dan Rivers, left the
cyclone stricken country last Friday
after being pursued by Burmese authorities. He credits his ability to evade capture upon the incompetence of those in hot pursuit. He defaced his passport, hid under a blanket and thinks he may have finally escaped due to the impatience of a stewardess,
"I was amazed at the lengths they apparently went just to catch me," Rivers told The Associated Press by telephone from Thailand on Saturday...
During reporting on Thursday, an immigration official stopped Rivers' group. He took the passports of two crew members and compared them to a picture of Rivers taken from a CNN screen. During the two hours before they were waved on, Rivers said he went to a restaurant and walked the streets, "trying not to look like a white guy with long hair, which was difficult."
The authorities didn't discover the men were from CNN. Knowing his picture was being circulated, Rivers hid under a blanket in the van the next time police checked.
He later resumed reporting away from their van until an official told them to return to their van, where police would be waiting. It was a tough walk.
"There were a lot of things going through our minds then about what we would find at the end of that journey," he said. "At one point I was thinking, 'what if they just shot us and threw us into the river and said it was an accident?'" link via feral beast
