A commission to investigate the assassination
of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto is limited to just six months
and cannot carry out criminal proceedings, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
said Thursday in a letter to the UN Security Council, dpa reported.
"The duty of determining criminal responsibility of the perpetrators of
the assassination would remain with the Pakistani authorities," the letter
said.
Ban said he will name three impartial people to probe Bhutto's death on
December 27, 2007, during her campaign to regain leadership in the Pakistani
government.
The commission's duties are to determine the "facts and
circumstances" of the murder.
The commission is to receive full cooperation from the Pakistani government,
freedom of movement throughout the country as well as transportation.
It has to submit a report to the Pakistani government and Ban within six
months. The letter made no mention of any legal steps once the report is handed
in.
This is unlike the much publicized international investigation into the
assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005 in Beirut. The Security Council has approved the establishment of a tribunal at The Hague to try suspects, beginning in March.