Government orders investigation

Burkina Faso has ordered an independent investigation into the death of an outspoken local journalist, Norbert Zongo, an official communique published in the local press today said. Three places on the commission would be reserved for representatives of international media associations and human rights organisations. A member of an Amnesty International group in Ouagadougou, the Burkinabe capital, told IRIN today that no specific body had been named in the government statement. Zongo’s charred body was found on Sunday in his car with no external burn marks on the vehicle, AFP reported at the weekend. Zongo, publisher of the weekly ‘L’Independent’, was known locally for his investigative reporting. His death and that of three others has sparked demonstrations in the country by thousands of students and pressure from international bodies such as Amnesty International for a full, independent investigation.