HANOI (Vietnam) - STATE media reports Vietnamese police have arrested a lawyer known for defending pro-democracy activists and accused him of working with 'hostile forces' against the communist state.

The People's Police newspaper says on its Web site that Le Cong Dinh was taken into custody on Saturday for violating Article 88 of the Criminal Code, which prohibits distributing information harmful to the state.

The newspaper report gives no details on the 'hostile forces.' In 2007, Dinh defended human rights lawyers Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan when they appealed their prison sentences for spreading anti-government propaganda. -- AP