But Rice told her confirmation hearing at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that she could not discuss this publicly although she was willing to brief members of the committee in a private session.

Rice, who was confirmed by the committee Wednesday in a 16-2 vote after a two-day hearing, also said that so far the United States was happy with the cooperation it was receiving from Pakistan in retrieving information from Abdul Qadeer Khan, but she did not know what Washington may need to ask him in the future.

Senators continued to express concerns over Pakistan's nuclear program throughout the debate but Sen. John F. Kerry, who lost the 2004 presidential election to President George W. Bush, widened the discussion by raising questions about the safety of Pakistan's nuclear weapons.

Pakistan tested its nuclear devices in May 1998, days after similar tests by India and ever since both countries also have been engaged in a race to improve their weapon-delivery systems and have tested dozens of nuclear-capable missiles for this purpose.

But concerns about Pakistan's nuclear program were aggravated in February 2004 when Khan, who is considered the father of the Pakistani bomb, confessed to selling nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea.

Kerry combined the activities of the network that Khan was running with the political instability in Pakistan, recalling that in December 2003 Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf survived two close attempts on his life.

If you were to have a successful coup in Pakistan, you could have, conceivably, nuclear weapons in the hand of a radical Islamic state automatically, overnight, said Kerry, expressing a concern that's often discussed in Washington's political and diplomatic circles.

And to the best of my knowledge, in all of the inquiries that I've made in the course of the last years, there is now no failsafe procedure in place to guarantee against that weaponry falling into the wrong hands, the senator added.

Responding to his concerns, Rice said: Senator, we have noted this problem, and we are prepared to try to deal with it. I would prefer not in open session to talk about this particular issue.

Kerry, however, said as a presidential candidate last year, he attended several private briefings where this problem was discussed and he found the answers highly unsatisfactory.

We're very aware of the problem, senator, and we have had some discussions. But I really would prefer not to discuss that, said Rice.

The issue of Pakistan's nuclear weapons came up for discussion again when Kerry sought Rice's comments on an article in the New Yorker magazine which claimed that in return for an assurance that America would not ask for Khan, Islamabad has helped Washington send U.S. agents into Iran on reconnaissance missions.

Let me just speak to the handling of A.Q. Khan. What we have been concerned about is that we are able to get the information that we need to break up the network. We have not made any deals about what happens with him, said Rice.

When Kerry asked her to explain what she meant by not reach an agreement with Islamabad over Khan's future, Rice said, We have not made any deals about what happens with him, but we have been concerned with the Pakistani government to get access to as much information as we possibly can.

Talking about Pakistan's refusal to allow inspectors from the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, to interview Khan, Rice said: This is a matter that's being handled by the Pakistanis. It is not our place to talk about what should or should not happen with the IAEA, and we have not.

But Kerry was not willing to give up the issue yet and asked Rice whether U.S. interests were still being served even though America does not have direct access to Khan. They're being served at this point, said Rice.

Adequately? asked the senator. We are getting the information that we need to deal with the A.Q. Khan network, responded Rice, adding, Senator, I don't know what we will need to ask in the future, but at this point, we have a good working relationship with Pakistan on this matter.

Kerry then turned to the main thrust of the New Yorker article that the United States was planning military strikes against Iran's nuclear installations and weapon sites with Pakistan's assistance.

Senator, the article does not represent our policies toward Iran or our expectations of policy toward Iran, said Rice.

Later in the discussion when Kerry said there were Muslim leaders who want the United States and other Western powers to to reach out and help them fight what the Bush administration refers to as a "war on terror, Rice said Pakistan's Musharraf was one such leader who saved his country from Islamic fundamentalists and paved the way for easing relations with India.

Three and a half years ago, she said, Pakistan was on the brink of going completely to extremist, with its ties to the Taliban, with thorough penetration of al-Qaida.

And if you look now at the way they fight al-Qaida, the situation has completely changed, she added.

Rice said she counted Musharraf's Dec. 12, 2001, speech, among one of my top 10 speeches that any leader has given in recent years. Musharraf made that speech after militants attacked the Indian Parliament and announced that Pakistan would cooperate with the international community in rooting out terrorism from South Asia.

In that speech, Musharraf made it clear that extremism and modernism cannot exist side by side in Pakistan, said Rice. That speech has given rise to very promising developments in South Asia, as India and Pakistan start feeling toward a better future, she added.

These improvements, she said, have partly been fueled by India's democracy and Pakistan's unwillingness to be associated with extremism.

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