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WASHINGTON: US officials are confirming that they suspect Pakistan allowed the Chinese military access to the helicopter that crashed in Abbottabad during the raid on the Osama bin Laden compound.

In interview to The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN and a dozen other US media outlets, the officials confirmed a Financial Times report that Pakistan had allowed China to see the secret stealth technology used to build the helicopter.

“We have reason to suspect China was given access, but we cannot confirm it definitively. We have strong suspicions,” a US official told CNN.

“Pakistani intelligence operatives likely gave the Chinese access to the wreckage,” another official told NYT.

The Chinese engineers were able to photograph the wreckage and take samples of the stealth skin that helps the chopper avoid radar detection, the officials said.

Pakistani officials contacted by the New York Times refused to comment on the matter.