Pakistan gave Chinese peek at U.S. ‘copter remains: reported U.S. intel assessment

American intelligence officials believe that Pakistan's spy agency permitted Chinese military officials to examine the wreckage of the Black Hawk stealth helicopter destroyed in the wake of the May raid that killed Osama bin Laden, the New York Times reported Monday.

The reported U.S. intelligence assessment is based on "intercepted conversations in which Pakistani officials discussed inviting the Chinese to the crash site," the Times' Mark Mazzetti reported.

Mazzetti notes that U.S. officials acknowledge they don't have "definitive proof" the Chinese obtained access to the helicopter remains in Abbottabad--but he cited one source knowledgeable about the incident who was "certain" that Chinese engineers had taken photos and samples of the wreckage.

Pakistani officials denied the accusation when U.S. counterparts raised it, Mazzetti reported. The remains of the Black Hawk helicopter have been returned to the United States.

News of a U.S. intelligence assessment comes after the Financial Times first reported Sunday that Pakistan's ISI spy agency allowed Chinese military engineers to photograph and take samples of the destroyed U.S. stealth helicopter.

This latest round of intelligence leaks highlights the sensitive state of U.S.-Pakistani relations in the aftermath of the May 2 raid. Since the Navy SEAL team entered the country without any advance consultation with Pakistani officials, the successful raid was a considerable embarrassment to Pakistan's security establishment.

However, while the U.S. intelligence assessment may be new, American officials have long suspected that the Chinese might gain access to the downed helicopter via Pakistan's intercession. The week following the bin Laden raid ABC News reported on just that scenario, as Marcy Wheeler noted in her blog Empty Wheel Monday.

U.S. officials for their part declined to comment on the helicopter reports.

"With regard to the helicopter story and China, that would take us into intelligence, so I'm not going to comment on that one at all," said State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland at the Monday State Department press briefing.

Nuland acknowledged past reports that the U.S. has curtailed some military assistance to Pakistan given Pakistan reducing access to the country for U.S. personnel and other demonstrations of a darkening in relations.

"I don't think that this story is particularly new that while our civilian assistance continues unchanged, on the security side, on the military side, we have had to make some changes based on cooperation," Nuland said. "We need to have the appropriate military personnel in. ... On counterterrorism, the level of our ability to work together depends on continuing to strengthen this dialogue."

"So the military aid — we're going to be absolutely clear-eyed about this military assistance and tie it to our ability to cooperate," Nuland added.

"The Chinese may have not derived too much value from mere pictures of the helo, but the very fact that photos were taken and sent to them is another real trust-buster," another former senior U.S. official and South Asia hand told the Envoy Monday. Similarly, he added, that U.S. intelligence officials believe "the reality of what ISI has been doing with [al Qaeda] and other jihadist organizations is much uglier than what makes it into the press and that it is very, very disillusioning."