Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has broken a month long silence on the daylight assassination of her advisor, calling his killing a "great loss" for the country's democracy struggle.
Ko Ni, a prominent Muslim lawyer and critic of Myanmar's powerful military, was shot dead on 29 January outside Yangon airport in a murder that sent shockwaves through the country's young civilian government.
A taxi driver, Ne Win, was also killed trying to stop the gunman who was arrested. Authorities say he was hired by a former military officer now on the run. Suu Kyi's ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party branded the killing a political assassination and "terrorist act" against their policies.
But Suu Kyi, a close friend of Ko Ni, remained silent in the wake of the incident.
On Sunday she made a rare public appearance at a memorial service organised by her party for the two victims.