Iconic West African leader Sankara reburied in Burkina Faso

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso — The late Burkina Faso revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara was reburied Thursday, eight years after his body was exhumed as part of an investigation. Sankara, a charismatic Marxist leader with a reputation as “Africa’s Che Guevara,” came to power in 1983 at the age of 33 after he and Compaore led a leftist coup that overthrew a moderate military faction. The West African nation has struggled ith a jihadi insurgency linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group that has killed thousands and displaced nearly 2 million people and sowed division among the population, leading to two coups last year. “With undertaking a symbolic state funeral for Sankara, Traore aims to boost his image by appealing to the collective memory of the young revolutionary leader that still shapes society in Burkina Faso,” said Mucahid Durmaz, senior analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, a global risk intelligence firm.