A former army private admitted at a trial on Tuesday that he had helped transport a hit squad to assassinate Burkina Faso's revolutionary leader, Thomas Sankara, 34 years ago.

The trial unfolding at a military court in Ouagadougou is being closely followed by the Burkinabe public, many of whom hope it will shed light on one of their country's darkest chapters.

Fourteen people are on trial for the 1987 assassination in which Sankara and 12 others were cut down in a hail of bullets at a top government meeting.

The accused include Sankara's friend and former comrade-in-arms, Blaise Compaore, who came to power after the bloodbath.

In testimony to the court, former private Yamba Elise Ilboudo, 62, admitted a charge of complicity in endangering state security.

But he said his actions were unpremeditated — he had not taken part in any meeting to plan the assassination, nor had he taken part in the shooting.

He said that on the day of the October 15 1987 coup, he was "at Blaise Compaore's home" with other men.

Compaore has always denied suspicions that he engineered the assassination and likewise is being tried in absentia.