Lithuanian leader suspects her country hosted CIA jail

(VILNIUS) - Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said Tuesday she had "indirect suspicions" that the Baltic state hosted a secret CIA prison for terror suspects, as a senior European official called for a beefed-up probe.

"I do not have a clear answer. I was in Brussels when it could have been happening. I have indirect suspicions. Not only I, but also the international community," Grybauskaite told reporters.

Grybauskaite took office as president in July after having served since 2004 as Lithuania's member of the European Union's Brussels-based executive.

She has pledged to probe the claims, which surfaced in August and have been denied by the Lithuanian government.

The US station ABC, citing unnamed ex-CIA officials, claimed Lithuania hosted a prison for "high-value" Al-Qaeda suspects. The facility in the former Soviet republic, now a staunch US ally, was allegedly closed in 2005.

ABC also revived claims about former sites in Romania and Poland. The governments of both countries have denied them, although the head of a Polish inquiry this year said he had had "justified suspicions".

The 47-nation Council of Europe has spearheaded investigations of what its experts call a "global spider's web" of detentions and illegal transfers by the United States.

Its human rights chief, Swede Thomas Hammarberg, visited Lithuania Tuesday.

"The issue is a extremely serious. We know torture was committed in these centres. There is enough basis for a very serious investigation," he told reporters.

However, he cautioned: "I haven't seen information which makes me convinced that absolutely without doubt it was here," in Lithuania.

The issue of an alleged Lithuanian CIA site has fed into a debate over the "war on terror" jail at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Washington wants its allies to take in detainees from Guantanamo as part of US President Barack Obama's plan to close the controversial facility, set up by his predecessor George W. Bush.

But few nations in Europe have signalled readiness to cooperate, given the unclear legal status of the inmates.

Lithuania -- which in February announced it had been asked to take in two inmates -- warned last week that it would not accept any until it was cleared of the CIA allegations.

Grybauskaite underscored that, and said it was not just up to Vilnius to refute the claims.

"Both Lithuania and the United States should give answers to these questions," she said.

If the allegations were proven, Lithuania must apologise, or it could risk becoming a target for terrorism, she warned.