Washington, Aug 21 (DPA) Lithuania was among three European countries that hosted secret CIA prisons for holding high-value Al Qaeda suspects, ABC News reported Thursday, citing unnamed former CIA officials.

The CIA held up to eight prisoners in a building outside Vilnius for as long as a year, until late 2005, when the secret prison operation was ended after it surfaced publicly, the officials said.

ABC News said it reviewed flight logs that show the CIA made repeated flights to Lithuania during the time. One official said Lithuania agreed to host a prison to gain favour with the Bush administration.

The CIA told ABC that it objected to the reporting of the story, saying it was 'irresponsible.' The Lithuanian embassy in Washington rejected the assertions.

Other European countries believed to have allowed secret prisons are Poland and Romania. Afghanistan, Morocco and Thailand have also been identified has host countries.

Then-president George W. Bush announced that all of the prisoners held abroad would be transferred to the US naval prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, following a Washington Post story revealing the secret prison programme.