Jakarta – An independent commission to probe the wealth accumulated by veteran leader Suharto during his 32-year rule will be only advisory and leave any decisions to the new president, State Secretary Akbar Tanjung said Monday.

The commission "will be authorized to do analysis on the findings as well as to gather inputs from the public," Tanjung said after meeting President B.J. Habibie at the Bina Graha presidential office. "The conclusion will be conveyed to the president in the form the commission hopes and expects, and then the president will decide on the follow-up," Tanjung added.

Habibie promised to set up the commission on November 21 and it had been expected to be formed Monday, with the signing of a presidential decree. But Tanjung said the government was still awaiting the "official acceptance" from some 30 public figures, and it could be set up "in one or two days."

The presidential decree is to follow an earlier decree passed by the People's Consultative Assembly, which named Suharto as one of those to be investigated in the country's drive against corruption. Reports have said some of those contacted by the government had refused to be part of the commission, citing a variety of reasons including "being unfit for the job."

Attorney General Andi Ghalib had earlier pledged the commission would be independent, not include government officials and manned only by those trusted by the people. But Akbar said Monday some ex-government officials were among those asked to be commission members. He said it would be given a three-month working period.

Suharto's legal advisor on Saturday said Suharto was ready to face trial on corruption charges, but he lashed out out Habibie's decision to set up the commission as "totally impossible."

The legal advisor, Yohannes Yacob, also warned the Habibie government that should the ousted leader be brought to court, it too would suffer. "We need to point out that the probe (if) taken to court will also drag down government officials, ex-officials and all the cronies who are also suspected of improper gains through corruption, collusion and nepotism," Yacob warned.

"We need to remind the Habibie government that the demands of several public groups to bring Suharto to court, is not their only political agenda.

"It must be borne in mind that their next agenda is to abolish the dual function (of the armed forces) and sack the pro-status quo group," Yacob said in a statement.

The Suharto family fortune was estimated at four billion dollars in a June article by Forbes Magazine. Suharto has continually denied allegations since being forced to step down on May 21 that he amassed a fortune while in office.

But documents made available over the past two weeks have said he and his family own millions of hectares (acres) of land in most of the country's 27 provinces, and Ghalib has said his office has found some 2.8 million dollars in domestic bank accounts.