CIA team to search bin Laden compound

WASHINGTON, May 26 (UPI) -- Pakistan will allow a CIA forensics team to examine Osama bin Laden's compound, U.S. officials said.

Bin Laden was found in the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where the al-Qaida founder was killed by a U.S. Navy SEALs team after the CIA confirmed he was hiding there.

The Washington Post said the CIA team has permission to use sophisticated equipment to search for al-Qaida materials that may have been hidden inside walls or buried at the site. The CIA also will be allowed to examine materials Pakistani officials have taken from the site.

The agreement would allow the CIA to enter the complex for the first time, the report said.

U.S. officials told the Post the forensics team is expected to arrive at the compound within days.

CIA Deputy Director Michael J. Morell negotiated access to the site during a trip last week to Islamabad, where he met with the head of Pakistan's main intelligence service, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, officials told the Post.

The newspaper said the agreement is seen as a sign the two spy agencies will continue cooperating despite Pakistani anger the raid was made without Pakistan's knowledge.