Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė (far right) made the announcement after meeting with Thomas Hammarberg (second from left), the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights at the Presidential Palace in Vilnius.

VILNIUS — Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė on Tuesday ordered another investigation into allegations that the country hosted a CIA secret prison for suspected al Qaeda terrorists from 2004 to 2005.

The allegations arise from a story by American television network ABC published in August, which quoted anonymous former CIA officials directly involved in the extradition process who claimed the the prison was located in a wooded area near Vilnius. Grybauskaitė agreed with the Council of Europe that the Lithuanian government’s adamant denial of the story’s veracity was not sufficient explanation, telling the press that she still has “indirect suspicions” about whether or not the story is true.

“If this is true, Lithuania has to clean up, accept responsibility, apologize, and promise that it will never happen again. We cannot place Lithuania in a position, for whatever interests, where it may become a target for international terrorists. Therefore, both Lithuania and the United States must provide answers to these questions,” President Grybauskaitė said at a press conference Tuesday.

The Council of Europe condemned the use of the prisons, in which critics say detainees underwent torture, as violating human rights. After then President George W. Bush admitted the existence of the “black sites” in 2006, the council investigated and published a report that found the existence of a CIA secret detention facility in Poland and Romania. The US closed these facilities in early 2009.

Grybauskaitė made the announcement after meeting with Thomas Hammarberg, the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights at the Presidential Palace in Vilnius.