North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole's husband, former Sen. Bob Dole, has been hired by Dubai Ports World to help shepherd the company through a $6.8 billion deal to control terminals at six U.S. ports.

Despite her husband's work for Dubai, Elizabeth Dole wrote in a letter Wednesday that she is concerned about turning port operations over to a Middle Eastern company.

"I am deeply concerned that the proposed transfer of seaport operations to a company controlled by the United Arab Emirates government might compromise our ability to effectively control our ports and harbors," Dole wrote in a letter to Sen. John Warner of Virginia, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, of which she is a member.

The committee is planning to receive a briefing today in Washington on the controversial ports deal, but Dole, a Salisbury, N.C., Republican, will miss it because of a previous engagement in Kannapolis.

Dole's spokeswoman said the senator will not be swayed by her husband's work.

"Sen. Elizabeth Dole's decisions are made independent of Bob Dole," spokeswoman Lindsay Taylor Mabry said. "And her top priority always is the constituents she represents."

Mabry said she didn't know how long Elizabeth Dole had known about her husband's consulting for Dubai Ports World.

Bob Dole, a registered lobbyist, former senator from Kansas and GOP presidential candidate, is among a team of lawyers at the Washington law firm Alston & Bird that has been working with Dubai Ports World. Dubai Ports World is owned by the United Arab Emirates.

CNN reported Wednesday that the company hired the law firm in 2005. A call to the firm, which also has an office in Raleigh, was not immediately returned.

In her letter, Dole did not outright oppose the Dubai deal, but she said Congress should take a hard look at it.

"I do not believe that a transaction of this importance should be finalized until the Administration and the Congress have had an opportunity to thoroughly examine, understand, and resolve these concerns," she wrote.

There has been a bipartisan congressional backlash this week against the Bush administration's approval of a pending deal to sell operations at six ports to Dubai Ports World.

Bush said Wednesday that he had no knowledge of the deal before his administration approved it. He also threatened this week to veto any legislation from Congress to overturn the sale.

The deal would allow Dubai Ports World to operate ports in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia. They are now operated by a British company.

The United Arab Emirates served as a staging ground for some of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists. Some in Congress say they've been inundated with calls and e-mail messages from constituents objecting to the plan.