Ex-army officer ordered Muslim lawyer's murder

A former military officer ordered the murder of a prominent Muslim lawyer and adviser to de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar president's office said on Wednesday.

Ko Ni was shot in the head in broad daylight outside Yangon's airport late last month while waiting for a taxi, in a crime that rocked the political establishment.

Suu Kyi's ruling National League for Democracy party branded the killing a political assassination and "terrorist act" against their policies.

Ko Ni was a vocal critic of the army's lingering grip on power under Myanmar's new elected government and an important advocate for the country's embattled Muslims.