Leaked files show increased U.S. intel-gathering on Pakistan

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- A summary of the U.S. intelligence community's so-called black budget indicates the United States has heightened surveillance of its ally, Pakistan.

The summary shows the United States increased its surveillance of Pakistan's nuclear arms while citing previously unrevealed concerns about biological and chemical sites, The Washington Post reported Monday.

The disclosures, based on documents former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden gave to the Post, reveal a new level of U.S. distrust in an already shaky partnership with politically unstable Pakistan and a broader intelligence-gathering effort on Pakistan than U.S. officials have disclosed, the report says.

"If the Americans are expanding their surveillance capabilities, it can only mean one thing," Husain Haqqani, who was Pakistan's ambassador to the United States from 2008 to 2011, told the Post. "The mistrust now exceeds the trust."

Other classified documents provided to the Post reveal new allegations of human rights abuses in Pakistan. U.S. espionage agencies say top Pakistani military and intelligence officials knew of, and possibly ordered, an extensive campaign of extrajudicial killings that focused on militants and other foes.

Public disclosure of the abuse could have forced the Obama administration to end aid to Pakistani armed forces because of a U.S. law barring military assistance to human rights abusers. But the documents in the Post's possession indicated administration officials did not press the issue, to preserve its tenuous relationship with Pakistan, the report said.

A spokesman for the Pakistani Embassy in Washington did not respond to the Post's request for comment.

The United States is "committed to a long-term partnership with Pakistan and we remain fully engaged in building a relationship that is based on mutual interests and mutual respect," National Security Council Caitlin Hayden said.

"We have an ongoing strategic dialogue that addresses in a realistic fashion many of the key issues between us, from border management to counter-terrorism, from nuclear security to promoting trade and investment," Hayden said.

"The United States and Pakistan share a strategic interest in combating the challenging security issues in Pakistan, and we continue to work closely with Pakistan's professional and dedicated security forces to do so."