The US Senate has voted to confirm Condoleezza Rice as US Secretary of State to replace Colin Powell.
Ms Rice was nominated to the post by US President George W Bush's.
The vote follows a bitter debate in which some Democratic Party senators accused Ms Rice of exaggerating or even lying about Iraq's weapons capability in the run-up to the US-led invasion of the country.
But Republicans have said Ms Rice is well qualified for the job. They have accused Democrats of forcing an unnecessarily long debate because of petty politics.
