The European Parliament took another step on Thursday toward the launch of an official probe into alleged CIA secret jails, marking an escalation in days of tensions between Europe and the United States on the issue.

Lawmakers in Strasbourg decided in principle to open the inquiry one day after leaders of party groups of the European Parliament agreed to set up a temporary ad hoc committee to look into the allegations.

The committee, whose final mandate and configuration will come out in January, is intended to find out whether or not the CIA actually took part in alleged secret flights for and illegal detention and torture of suspects in Europe.

The probe will also reveal whether or not European Union (EU) citizens have been involved in the suspected CIA operations ranging from illegal arrests to torture on the territories of the 25-member European bloc.

If found guilty of a grave and sustained breach of the fundamental rights, a member state may face suspension of its voting right in the European Council, or other sanctions recommended by the the European Parliament.

According to a Human Rights Watch organization, the CIA ran secret centers in at least two European countries, Poland and Romania, where suspects were subjected to interrogation techniques that the CIA could not legally use on U.S. soil.

European parliamentarians have also adopted a resolution, urging EU leaders to "examine these questions" at the Dec. 15-16 summit in Brussels. The resolution, among others, calls on member states to assist in a Council of Europe inquiry which opened last month.

A report by the 46-member Council of Europe, a major human rights watchdog, has concluded that allegations of secret CIA prisons are credible and that the United States seemed to have illegally abducted and detained individuals.

European governments and legislatures have made a string of responses over the month while the European media have continuously explored the news that the CIA set up secret jails in Europe and used European airports to transfer prisoners.

The United States is yet to clarify the issue. Last week, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice paid a visit to Europe amid mounting calls for such a clarification. But she neither confirmed nor denied the allegations, although she did assure the Europeans that the U.S. treatment of detainees was within international law.

Source: Xinhua