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YANGON, Myanmar — A legal adviser for Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy was assassinated at a Myanmar airport Sunday after returning from a trip overseas, the government said.

Supreme Court advocate Ko Ni was a longstanding adviser to the country's leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Ministry of Information identified the suspect as Kyi Linn from Mandalay. The motive was not known.

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The gunman allegedly made a close shot to the head as Ko Ni walked out of the arrival gate at Yangon's airport, the Ministry of Information said in a video posted on state-run MRTV.

A friend of Ko Ni who witnessed the shooting said the suspected assassin also shot a taxi driver who tried to stop him from fleeing.

"As I stopped my car by the airport, that's where I saw Ko Ni's body lying on the walkway outside of the airport and I couldn't believe that just happened," said Thet Paing Soe, a friend and an NLD supporter. "Then as the shooter tried to run away, the police arrested him."

Aung San Suu Kyi attends a meeting with Department of Archaeology of Nyaung-U. HEIN HTET / EPA

Thet Paing Soe said the taxi driver known as Nay Win stopped the fleeing assassin but was shot. The taxi driver's condition was not clear.

Kyee Myint, a former chairman of the Myanmar Lawyer Network who has a close relationship with Ko Ni, also confirmed his death.

"It is a big loss for us that Ko Ni, our beloved friend, has been killed. He is the face of the democracy in our country and this is a big loss for us," Kyee Myint added.

Ko Ni was a Burmese Muslim and as a practicing lawyer had handled more than 900 criminal cases and more than 1,400 civil cases.

In 1995, he established Laurel Law Firm with two other advocates.