The location of a secret site allegedly used by the CIA to interrogate suspects has been revealed near the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius. The site is reportedly one of eight such secret centres around the world.
The Australian newspaper,
The Age, quoted former US intelligence operatives as saying the CIA built the jail in 2004 and that it was in use for over a year, involving at least eight suspected Al-Qaeda terrorists flown in from Afghanistan.
The site, a riding school and cafe, is in the village of Antaviliai, 25 kilometres from the capital. The facility is said to have had an underground annexe.
Meanwhile, the
EU Observer says certain unnamed Lithuanian officials also said they knew of the ”black site’s" existence or were briefed on it.
An ABC TV crew viewed the flight logs of aeroplanes used in the operations, listing flights that took the suspects between similar secret prisons in Poland, Romania, Afghanistan, Thailand, Morocco and Guantanamo Bay.
The EU Observer said false flight plans had been submitted to European aviation authorities, while pilots were told to hand in flight plans that showed their destinations as being in neighbouring countries. The intelligence operative told ABC that:
Finland and Poland were used most frequently.
The Age says Lithuania has initiated a parliamentary inquiry into the claims. President Dalia Grybauskaite said it was necessary to properly investigate the claims. She said:
If this is true, Lithuania has to clean up, accept responsibility, apologise and promise that it will never happen again.
