Ban said the details were still being discussed with the Pakistan government and indicated that several issues remained to be resolved.

"We are looking at finding .... situations of assassination of Mrs Bhutto. But we are still discussing this matter with the Pakistani government," Ban said.

Among the issues yet to sorted out, he said, are the composition of the commission, its scope, time frame and funding.

But this is not going to be an investigation," he emphasised at a press conference on Tuesday.

This is first time that the UN has made it clear that it is not going to hold an independent inquiry into the assassination of Bhutto on December 27 in Rawalpindi during an election rally.

The Pakistan government as well as Benazir's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) had requested the world body for an independent inquiry into the assassination so that truth behind Bhutto's assassination could be established.