BEIJING, Dec. 2 (Xinhuanet) -- The allegations of terror suspects being held at CIA secret prisons and flown into airports in a number of countries on the Continent have aroused the Europeans' indignation, thus casting shadow on the trans-Atlantic relations.

    The EU has formally demanded the Bush Administration clarify media reports and "allay parliamentary and public concerns" about the secret CIA jails and the transporting of al-Qaida suspects in Europe.

    The EU says the actions of the CIA may "violate international law," according to a letter from Foreign Secretary Jack Straw of Britain, which currently holds the EU presidency.

    Several EU governments have launched formal investigations into the existence of the CIA secret prisons which was first reported in The Washington Post on Nov. 2.

    The European lawmakers said Thursday that it was time for answers.

    "We now have sufficient evidence involving CIA flights. We need to know who was on those flights, where they went," said Sarah Luford, a British member of the European Parliament's civil liberties committee.

    EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini said Monday that he would propose the suspension of voting rights for any nation found to have hosted a secret detention center.

    Clandestine detention centers would violate the European Convention on Human Rights, a treaty binding all European countries.

    New German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier met with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington Tuesday and discussed a wide range of issues, including reports of secret US prisons abroad for terror suspects.

    In face of anger from Europe, the Bush Administration initially declined to confirm or deny the allegation and then promised to respond "to the best of our ability."

    The issue is expected to dominate Rice's visit to Europe next week and it would be improper for her to use vague language again.

    The image of the United States has been tarnished in recent years due to prisoner abuses in Iraq and allegations of torture in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The EU feared its reputation could be damaged by the possible existence of secret CIA prisons on the Continent.

    Meanwhile, the European governments are facing tough questions from opposition politicians and the public about how much they knew about American actions.

    Tension has mounted between America and some EU countries following the Bush Administration's unilateral decision to pull out of the Kyoto Protocol, which aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions, in 2001, and for going to war against Iraq without United Nations' approval and amid widespread opposition from the Continent, especially France and Germany.

    However, some Eastern European countries, including the new EU members of Romania and Poland, have supported Washington to fight the Iraq war. This has aroused dissatisfaction from leaders of some "Old Europe" countries.

    EU Justice Commissioner Frattini's warning over the hosting of the secret US prisons could be seen as a hint that new EU members should think about whether they are with the right camp or the wrong one -- the EU or the United States.

    Romania has denied the existence of a secret CIA prison but has been unable to give a clear answer on the issue of the possible transporting of prisoners through Romanian territories.

    Poland has said it has never allowed the CIA to hold prisoners on its territory. On Tuesday, Poland President Aleksander Kwasniewski said in Brussels he had no information on possible CIA flights. Enditem