EUGENE DE KOCK TO SEEK PARDON.

Convicted apartheid killer Eugene de Kock will probably apply for a presidential pardon next week, his lawyer said on Thursday. The announcement follows President Thabo Mbeki's controversial decision at the weekend to pardon 33 people, mostly members of liberation movements, for crimes including murder and robbery. However De Kock's lawyer, Schalk Hugo, said the timing of his client's application had nothing to do with the pardon of the 33. "We've said that all along (that we intend to apply for pardon). We were going to do that in any event," he said. "Hopefully we'll be able to launch that thing next week." Hugo declined to comment on whether he thought De Kock's chances …