President Gayoom sent condolences to the relatives of the dead

Guards allegedly beat to death one man and three more died in violence at Maafushi jail in the capital, Male.

The incident sparked unprecedented anti-government street protests.

Announcing to parliament the findings of a commission into the violence, President Gayoom said measures would be taken to prevent further incidents.

He expressed his condolences to the families of those who died.

Buildings torched

However, an exiled spokesman for the banned opposition Maldivian Democratic Party criticised the commission's report and called for the president's resignation.

Mohammed Latheef said the names of those responsible for the deaths had been edited out of the report.

The jail incident sparked the first riots in living memory

Details of the incident at Maafushi are still not fully clear, but it appears inmate Hassan Evaan Naseem was beaten to death by guards.

National Security Service guards were called to deal with subsequent unrest and firing occurred.

Three more prisoners died.

Rioting broke out in the capital, with crowds torching government buildings.

A curfew was imposed and armoured vehicles patrolled the streets.

President Gayoom sacked his police chief following the riots, and 11 security personnel were detained over the prison deaths.

He said the street riots were mostly caused by drug addicts.

The president said certain parts of the report had been withheld for reasons of national security.

However, opponents accused him of a cover-up.

Mr Latheef said President Gayoom had lost the support of the people and should resign.