China rejects report of OBL raid copter access

BEIJING: China on Tuesday dismissed a report that Pakistan gave it access to an advanced US 'stealth' helicopter that crashed during the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May.

During the raid, one of two Blackhawk helicopters -- believed to use advanced stealth technology -- crashed, forcing US commandos to abandon it. A British newspaper reported on Sunday that Pakistani authorities gave China access to the wreckage, despite CIA requests to Islamabad to keep the wreckage under wraps.

China's Ministry of Defence denied this in a one-sentence statement, Beijing's first public response to the report.

"This report is totally unfounded and extremely absurd," said the statement on the ministry's website.

The report said Pakistan allowed Chinese intelligence officials to take pictures of the crashed helicopter and take samples of its special skin that helped the American raid evade Pakistani radar.

One U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, earlier told this news agency there was reason to believe Pakistan had allowed the Chinese to inspect the aircraft. But the official could not confirm with certainty that this had happened.

The surviving tail section of the downed helicopter was returned to the United States after a trip by U.S. Senator John Kerry in May, a spokesman for the U.S. embassy told. (Reuters)