Updated

Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has broken a month-long silence to describe the assassination of one of her top legal advisers as a great loss for the country.

She spoke Sunday at a memorial ceremony for lawyer Ko Ni and Nay Win, a taxi driver who was killed as he chased the gunman in the Jan. 29 incident.

Suu Kyi had been criticized for not making a public statement on the loss of Ko Ni, who was a key adviser to her National League for Democracy party as it seeks to wrest from the army its residual power in government.

Police said Saturday that they believed Ko Ni's killing was the result of a personal political grudge, seeking to dampen speculation of army involvement.