Seoul  - South Korean President Lee Myung Bak's nominee for national police chief withdrew his nomination Tuesday because of criticism over a deadly police raid in January.

Kim Seok Ki also resigned from his present post as Seoul's police chief, saying he held himself "morally responsible" for the January 20 operation in the capital in which six people died.

Police stormed a building in central Seoul to evict squatters armed with Molotov cocktails who were protesting redevelopment of the area. The demonstrators threw the firebombs at police, and a blaze broke out on the roof of the building, killing five protestors and a police officer.

Pressure on Lee to withdraw Kim's nomination had intensified recently. The police were accused of being excessive in the operation and disregarding the physical danger it posed to the demonstrators.

Kim's withdrawal came a day after prosecutors exonerated police in the raid but indicted 20 of the protestors, accusing them of causing the deadly fire by producing incendiary materials.

Seven employees of a private security firm were also indicted, accused of trying to clear the occupied building by force before police stormed it. (dpa)