The US is working with Pakistan to protect its nuclear technology from falling into the hands of extremists, a senior US official said on Friday.
"We have had discussions with Pakistan on the need for Pakistan to safeguard its technology and its nuclear material. We are confident they are are taking the necessary steps," the official said.
He commented after NBC Television's "Nightly News" program reported that since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the US, American nuclear experts grouped as the "US Liaison Committee" have spent millions of dollars to safeguard more than 40 weapons in Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.
"Meeting every two months, they are helping Pakistan develop state of the art security, including secret authorization codes for the arsenal," the network reported.
But the US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that US law and the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, a cornerstone of efforts to curb the spread of weapons, "prevent any direct involvement with [Pakistan's] nuclear weapons."
"So we've had discussions with them generally about how they safeguard nuclear material," he said.
"We don't want their materials to get into the wrong hands but won't go over the edge of our law and the NPT," he said.
The reports about the US role in Pakistan came in the midst of revelations that the father of Pakistan's nuclear program, Abdul Qadeer Khan, sold nuclear secrets to Libya and two members of US President George W. Bush's "axis of evil," North Korea and Iran.
After confessing on television to blackmarket nuclear technology dealings and absolving Pakistan's military and government of blame, Khan was pardoned by President Pervez Musharraf in an apparent effort to lay the controversy to rest.
The US has strongly defended Musharraf's handling of the scandal, reflecting a balancing act between its usual aggressive stance on punishing proliferation and its firm support for the Pakistani leader, a key ally in the US anti-terror war.
Pakistan, like South Asian rival India, tested nuclear weapons in 1998.
The US and the other four members of the world nuclear club -- Russia, France, Britain and China -- in the past have expressed alarm at this development.
But most concern has focused on Pakistan because of fears that Islamic fundamentalists may overthrow Musharraf -- the target of two recent assassination attempts -- and gain control of the nuclear bomb.
Since the 1998 nuclear tests, US officials and experts have debated the extent to which they can provide India and Pakistan advice about safeguarding their nuclear technology.
Neither country is a member of the NPT and hence is not entitled to any assistance that might advance their nuclear weapons capability.
The US recently got around this with India by offering safety assistance to New Delhi's civilian nuclear program, which is aimed at power generation.
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