ISLAMABAD: Pakistan gave China access to the previously unknown stealth helicopter that crashed during the commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May despite explicit requests from the CIA not to, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.
The revelation, if confirmed, is likely to further shake the US-Pakistan relationship, which has been improving slightly after hitting its lowest point in decades following the May 2 Bin Laden raid.
During the raid, one of two modified Blackhawk helicopters, believed to employ unknown stealth capability, malfunctioned and crashed, forcing the commandos to abandon it.
The US now has information that Pakistan, particularly the ISI, gave access to the Chinese military to the downed helicopter in Abbottabad, the paper quoted a person in intelligence circles as saying.
Pakistan, which enjoys a close relationship with China, allowed Chinese intelligence officials to take pictures of the crashed chopper as well as take samples of its special skin that allowed the American raid to evade Pakistani radar, the newspaper reported.
No one from the Pakistani army was available for comment, but the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI), Pakistans top spy agency, denied the report. The paper said
Pakistans top general, chief of army staff Ashfaq Kayani, denied that China had been given access.
The surviving tail section, photos of which were widely distributed on the Internet, was returned to the United States following a trip by US Senator John Kerry in May, a spokesman for the U.S. embassy told Reuters.
Shortly after the raid, Pakistan hinted that it might give China access to the downed chopper, given its fury over the raid, which it considers a grevious violation of its sovereignty.
We had explicitly asked the Pakistanis in the immediate aftermath of the raid not to let anyone have access to the damaged remains of the helicopter, the Financial Times quoted the source as saying.
In an incident such as the helicopter crash, it is standard American procedure to destroy sophisticated technology such as encrypted communications and navigation computers.
Pakistan is a strategic ally to the United States but the relationship has been on a downward spiral since the killing of the al Qaeda leader in the raid by US forces.
Islamabad was not informed in advance and responded by cutting back on US trainers in the country and placing limits on CIA activities there.
In a show of displeasure over Pakistans cutback in US trainers, its limits on visas for U.S. personnel and other bilateral irritants, the United States recently had suspended about a third of its $2.7 billion annual defense aid to Pakistan.
Despite this, both sides have tried to prevent a breakdown of relations.
The head of Pakistans powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Lieutenant-General Ahmad Shuja Pasha, visited the United States last month for talks with US government and intelligence officials, which both sides said went well.
Despite the billions in aid, Pakistan still considers China a more reliable ally than the United States.
China is a major investor in predominantly Muslim Pakistan in areas such as telecommunications, ports and infrastructure. The countries are linked by a Chinese-built road pushed through Pakistans northern mountains.
Trade with Pakistan is worth almost $9 billion a year for Pakistan, and China is its top arms supplier.
In the wake of attacks that left 11 people dead in the Chinas western region of Xinjiang in late July, Pakistan had quickly dispatched Lieutenant-General Pasha to Beijing
http://tribune.com.pk/story/231579/...o-stealth-chopper-from-bin-laden-raid-report/
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Now the Question is, Is this the first time Pakistan took the step of transferring Classified Technology to China?
Answer is NO, Pakistan has since been long providing Avionics Equipment from F-16 and other Navel Aircraft and given to China for Reverse engineering... further Karachi Precision Dept within PIAC, has been providing Avionics and other Electronic Guidance system and sharing it with China since long.
If any one think We get Support from China for Free, its totally wrong. In the International Defense Gossip section, there is this Gossip going around... that Pakistan provided the keys to Gwadar in return Pakistan got 50 JF-17.
