A cellphone of Osama bin Laden's trusted courier recovered in the U.S. raid last month that killed both men in Pakistan contained contacts to a militant group that is a longtime asset of Pakistan's intelligence agency, The New York Times reported late Thursday.

In a story posted on the Times website, senior American officials and others briefed on the findings said the discovery indicates bin Laden used the group, Harakat-ul-Mujahedeen, as part of his support network inside Pakistan.

It raises questions about whether the group and others helped shelter and support the al-Qaida leader on behalf of Pakistan's spy agency.

The officials and analysts told the Times that Pakistan's intelligence agency had mentored Harakat and allowed it to operate in Pakistan for at least 20 years.

In tracing the calls on the cellphone, U.S. analysts have determined that Harakat commanders had called Pakistani intelligence officials, the senior American officials said. One said they had met. The officials added that the contacts were not necessarily about bin Laden and that there was no "smoking gun" showing that Pakistan's spy agency had protected bin Laden.

Beyond providing leads about why bin Laden was able to live comfortably for years in Abbottabad, a town dominated by the Pakistani military just 35 miles from the capital city of Islamabad, the discovery also may help shed light on bin Laden's secret odyssey after he slipped away from U.S. forces in the Tora Bora region of Afghanistan nearly 10 years ago.