<span style="color: #222222;">In Burkina Faso, former President Blaise Compaore has been sentenced to life in prison for his role in the murder of pan-African leader Thomas Sankara, nearly three decades after the fact.<br />''<br />''The verdict announced yesterday brought to close a six-month trial about the murder of Sankara, who was assassinated during a coup led by his friend and comrade-in-arms Compaoré on October 15, 1987.<br />''<br />''Compaoré, who was unseated in a 2014 uprising, fled to neighbouring Ivory Coast where he was given citizenship. He was tried in absentia, alongside Kafando, unlike Diendéré who is in custody.<br />''<br />''The former strongman was sentenced along with his then-security chief, Hyacinthe Kafando, who also received a life term.</span><br />