Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius on Thursday cast doubt on a promise from President Dalia Grybauskaite to investigate claims that a secret CIA jail holding terror suspects operated in the Baltic state until 2005, according to dpa. Speaking on Lithuanian radio, Kubilius said he doubted a fresh investigation would reveal anything worthwhile. A previous investigation conducted by a parliamentary foreign affairs committee in 2006 said there was no evidence to support the existence of the jail. "It said very clearly that there have been no such prisons or interrogation facilities in Lithuania, and we have no new data today to contradict this conclusion," Kubilius said. The prime minister said the issue was being whipped up by foreign media. "We might have to consider the question of whether we will have to conduct such investigations every half year or annually, whenever US or European media outlets report rumours or guesswork," he said. Rumours that a secret CIA prison operated in Lithuania have circulated for some time, but fresh allegations released last Thursday by US broadcaster ABC News, citing anonymous CIA sources, have revived the issue. Kubilius's reluctance to back a fresh probe contrasts with the stance taken by Grybauskaite during a visit to Brussels earlier this week, during which said an ad hoc parliamentary commission would look into the truthfulness of the ABC claims. News broadcaster Russia Today claimed Thursday a secret CIA facility operated out of the former Soviet Rudininkai military base south of Vilnius.
