South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission has refused an amnesty request from a former death-squad leader Eugene de Kock.

De Kock, who was convicted and jailed for 262 years for a series of murders, had applied for amnesty for blowing up four black colleagues.

Dubbed "Prime Evil" by the media, De Kock was the commander of the shadowy Vlakplaas unit, which was set up to eliminate enemies of the apartheid government during the 1980s.

Eight other former security police were also refused amnesty for the murders.

The commission said De Kock and the eight other applicants had given differing accounts of the reasons behind the killings.

The commission, which was set up to investigate political crimes committed during the apartheid period, requires applicants to prove a political motive for their actions to qualify for an amnesty.

Thefts

During the hearings De Kock testified that the murder victims had been stealing money by intercepting cheques sent to political organisations.

The police were reluctant to bring them to trial for fear that they would reveal details of secret police operations, and had them killed instead.

De Kock is seeking amnesty for more than 100 incidents of murder, torture and fraud.