In this file photo taken on July 26, 2014 Burkina Faso's President Blaise Compaore waits prior to meeting relatives and acquaintances of the victims of the Air Algerie crash at the Presidential Palace in Ouagadougou. (Photo: AFP)

OUAGADOUGOU, April 6 (Xinhua) -- Burkina Faso's former president Blaise Compaore was sentenced to life imprisonment for the assassination of his predecessor Thomas Sankara in 1987, a military tribunal ruled Wednesday.

The tribunal also sentenced General Gilbert Diendere and Hyacinthe Kafando, a security chief, to life imprisonment.