Ouagadougou: A police lab helping to investigate the killing of Burkina Faso's iconic former president Thomas Sankara could not find any "detectable DNA" in remains presumed to be his, a family lawyer said Monday.
Nearly three decades after his death, remains believed to be those of Sankara and 12 former aides were exhumed from a cemetery in the capital Ouagadougou in May.
"There is no detectable DNA in accordance with the current state of science," said Benewende Stanislas Sankara, one of the lawyers representing Sankara's family and who is no relation.
"We can simply say that in view of these results, the state of the remains did not permit the laboratory to certify the existence of DNA," the lawyer said.
A police lab in the southern French city of Marseilles performed the testing on the remains, which are part of a probe into the killing of the man dubbed Africa's "Che Guevara."
Sankara's death certificate stated the 37-year-old former army captain died of "natural causes".
According to autopsy results released in October the leader's supposed remains were "riddled with bullets".
Several reports have since suggested he was executed by a hit squad at government headquarters on October 15, 1987 -- an account that appeared to be supported by the results of the autopsy.
The probe into Sankara's death was launched five months after his friend-turned-rival Blaise Compaore was ousted as president in a popular uprising in October 2014.
At least five people, mostly former soldiers, have been charged in connection with Sankara's killing, including General Gilbert Diendere, leader of a failed September coup in Burkina Faso.
AFP
