ISLAMABAD, July 17 Heraldo Munoz, the head of a UN commission investigating the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, announced here on Friday that his team would only look into “facts and circumstances” of the tragic incident and not fix “criminal liability”.

“Our mandate is to look into the facts and circumstances of the assassination of former prime minister and the mandate does not include a criminal investigation,” he said at a press conference.

He said the commission would have no authority to summon any person, but anyone wanting to share information could assist the commission voluntarily.

Analysts believe that the investigation which would cost $4 million would be a waste of time and money because the commission will only investigate the circumstances leading to the assassination and not fix responsibility.

Mr Munoz said “The responsibility of the team is to investigate the crime and prosecuting the perpetrators remains with the Pakistani authorities.”

The analysts are of the opinion that the UN official's statement will disappoint millions of Pakistanis who have been waiting for the commission for over one and a half years in the hope that it will expose the criminals.

Presidential spokesman Farhat Ullah Babar told Dawn that it was a fact-finding mission which would investigate the circumstances leading to the assassination. “Fixing criminal liability will be the responsibility of the government.”

However, he said, the commission had vast manoeuvrability and even if it refrained from criminal indictment it could expose and reveal facts that would make indictment a mere formality.

Mr Munoz said the mandate of the commission was wider than that of Scotland Yard. “The Scotland Yard had only found the cause of Ms Bhutto's death through forensic methods, but we would ascertain the facts and circumstances of her death,” he said.

Asked if the government had provided any information about its own investigation, he said the commission had received valuable information that would help in the investigation.

When asked if the commission would summon former president Pervez Musharraf and other persons named by Ms Bhutto in her emails as persons who could assassinate her, Mr Munoz said “The commission cannot summon anyone legally because it would be a voluntary process.”

He said “We would greatly appreciate the voluntary involvement and engagement of all Pakistanis in this effort. We cannot be fully successful without the cooperation of the people of Pakistan. And I need to stress at this point the key part that the media can play in helping the commission.”

He said he had met President Asif Ali Zardari and received extensive and useful briefings from Interior Minister Rehman Malik and some senior security officials.

Mr Munoz said “We are approaching our work in a transparent, open-minded and committed manner to ensure that our final report clearly establishes the truth regarding the facts and circumstances surrounding this tragic event. We intend to do the utmost to accomplish this inquiry.”