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Burkina Faso's Compaore Apologises to Family of Murdered Sankara

Former president Blaise Compaore, sentenced in absentia to life in jail for the 1987 assassination of revolutionary icon Thomas Sankara, has apologised to the ex-leader's family.

Compaore seized power in the West African nation in a 1987 coup in which Sankara was gunned down by a hit squad. The violent death of his former comrade-in-arms was a taboo subject throughout his 27 years in power.

The 71 year-old returned to Burkina Faso on July 7, 2022 without facing arrest, after the country's military leader Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba invited him in the name of "national reconciliation".

The visit sparked an outcry among civil society groups and political parties, who said uniting the nation should not come at the expense of impunity.

InFocus

Chris Simpson/IRIN

Billboard promoting peace in capital city Ouagadougou (file photo).

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