WASHINGTON, Feb 9: US Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Monday that he had no plans to visit Pakistan soon, but would do so this year. A Pakistani official said on Sunday that Mr Powell was expected to visit soon to discuss an investigation into Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan , who has admitted leaking nuclear secrets to Libya, Iran and North Korea.

Dr Khan, regarded as the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb, was pardoned by President Pervez Musharraf, an action that flies in the face of US nonproliferation efforts. But it drew no criticism from Washington, which is eager to support Gen Musharraf, a key ally in the US war on terrorism.

Mr Powell's visit could be a show of support for Musharraf, but could also increase domestic US criticism that Gen Musharraf is too close to Washington. "I have no plans to travel to Pakistan. I'm sure I will before the spring and summer are out, but I read with the same interest that you did over the weekend that someone said I was on my way to Pakistan," Powell told reporters.

Mr Powell said he and Gen Musharraf had a "good conversation" over the weekend about Mr Khan's pardon and the US demand that Pakistan uproot the network that Khan allegedly ran.

"Pakistan has done quite a bit now to roll up the network. I said to President Musharraf that we wanted to learn as much as we could about what Mr Khan and the network was up to and it has to be pulled up by its roots and examined to make sure that we have left nothing behind," Powell said.

"He assured me that that was his objective as well and that he would share with us all of the information that they came up with," Powell added. "We also talked about the issue of amnesty for Dr Khan and President Musharraf reminded me that it was a conditional amnesty and that's the way they are dealing with the matter," he said. -Reuters