The Unwelcome American
It was a nighttime swim that landed one of the world's great democracy advocates in a sea of trouble. For reasons that only he seems to understand, 53-year-old John Yettaw, of Falcon, Mo., donned a pair of homemade flippers in May and paddled his way to the lakeside home of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under some form of arrest in the country for 13 of the past 19 years. Suu Kyi had been barred from receiving any visitors and pleaded with Yettaw to leave, but reportedly relented after he complained of cramps and exhaustion. The Missouri man was nabbed by police two nights later as he swam away, landing the eccentric and the icon both in jail. Suu Kyi, a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, now faces another five years behind bars as a result of Yettaw's stunt; he also faces trial and a similar prison sentence. Kyi Win, one of Suu Kyi's lawyers, doubtlessly spoke for many when he pilloried Yettaw in the press, telling Britain's Independent, "Everyone is very angry with this wretched American. He is the cause of all these problems."