A Lithuanian deputy foreign minister has said that Russia has reassured Lithuania its natural gas supply won't be interrupted, despite a gas bill dispute with Belarus.

Lithuanian official Evaldas Ignatavicius said, "We got assurances well in advance."

Lithuania would be particularly vulnerable to a curtailment of gas supplies, as it shut down a nuclear reactor this year, making it more dependent on outside sources of energy.

The EUobserver reported on Monday that Ignatavicius stated Russia said it would route gas supplies through Latvia.

Washington, Dec. 23 : A a Lithuanian parliamentary committee has ordered a probe into allegations that the US Central Intelligence Agency ran a secret prison in Lithuania where al-Qaeda suspects may have been held.

Lithuania is the third European country believed to have hosted secret CIA jails. Some CIA staff are reported to have used the overseas detention centers to circumvent US law.

Arvydas Anusauskas, head of the national security and defence committee, said the investigation found Lithuanian intelligence opened two detention centres in co-operation with the CIA.

New Delhi, Dec 2 - Lithuanian foreign minister Vygaudas Usackas, who is on his maiden visit to India, is looking at forging strong ties between the two nations, especially in tourism, business and infrastructure. He is scheduled to meet the Indian foreign minister S. M. Krishna Thursday evening.

New Delhi, Nov 30 : Lithuania Tuesday said it will open an embassy here in three months to strengthen its economic and cultural ties with India.

It will also open a consulate in Mumbai by next month.

"We are looking forward to renewed business ties with India," Lithuania's Minister Counsellor Albretas A. Dambraus told reporters here.

"With the opening of the Lithuania embassy in New Delhi and the consulate in Mumbai, we can look forward to serious business relationships," Dambraus added.

Vilnius - Admitting media leaks were complicating its efforts, a Lithuanian official heading a parliamentary probe into claims of secret prisons operated by the US intelligence agency CIA in Lithuania said Friday the report would still be released on time.

Speaking to journalists in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, Arvydas Anusauskas of the National Security and Defense Committee said the probe would be released on December 22, despite a growing body of evidence complicating the case.

London, Nov. 20 : The CIA reportedly used a horse riding school in Lithuania as a secret prison to hold and interrogate top al-Qaeda terrorists.

According to The Telegraph, the CIA built the secret jail in 2004 and used it for more than a year, flying in at least eight suspected al-Qaeda terrorists from Afghanistan.

Vilnius - The prime ministers of three Baltic states said Friday they remained committed to the joint construction of a new nuclear power station for the region in which Poland will also have a share.

After talks in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, the three leaders - Andrus Ansip of Estonia, Valdis Dombrovskis of Latvia and Andrius Kubilius of Lithuania - issued a joint statement saying an unnamed "strategic investor" would be invited to join the four states in construction of a new nuclear facility.

Vilnius - Lithuania registered a 14.3-per-cent fall in gross domestic product (GDP) in the third quarter compared to the year-ago period, but a quarter-to-quarter GDP increase of 13 per cent raised hope Tuesday that the worst of the economic crisis may be over.

Preliminary data released by the national statistics office showed a third-quarter decline of 14.3 per cent against the same period in 2008. But an accompanying statistic showed a 13-per-cent GDP increase against the second quarter of 2009, raising hopes that Lithuania may

Vilnius - The Lithuanian parliament said Wednesday it would fast-track an official enquiry into whether the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operated a secret prison near Vilnius until
2005.

The decision announced by the National Security and Defense Committee came a day after Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said she had "indirect suspicions" that allegations about the facility could have substance.

Chairman Arvydas Anusauskas said the committee would seek special permission to conduct a probe that extends beyond what its existing remit allows.

Vilnius - Irena Degutiene became the first woman to be installed as speaker of the Lithuanian parliament, or Seimas, Thursday after her candidacy was approved in a vote.

Degutiene attracted the support of 87 MPs in the 141-seat chamber with 48 opposing her candidacy.

Following announcement of the results, 60-year-old Degutiene thanked MPs for their trust and said she would welcome advice and even criticism.

"Anyone can come and tell me: 'Degutiene, you're doing something wrong'," the new speaker said.

Vilnius  - An Irishman accused of attempting to buy arms for a paramilitary group while he was in Lithuania had his appeal against being kept in jail rejected Thursday.

The Court of Appeal in the Lithuanian capital upheld a decision by Vilnius Regional Court that 36-year-old Michael Campbell should be kept in custody until the case is heard in October.

Campbell did not appear in person and has already been detained in the Baltic state for more than 18 months.

Vilnius  - French officials have apologized for flying the Lithuanian flag upside-down at a meeting of the two countries' presidents last week, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Vygaudas Usackas said Thursday.

At a ceremony attended by French President Nikolas Sarkozy and Lithuania's Dalia Grybauskaite in Paris on September 4, the yellow, green and red flag of the Baltic state was incorrectly displayed next to the more famous French tricolor.

Vilnius  - Shareholders of a huge Lithuanian company formed just 14 months ago to serve as a "national energy champion" voted Friday in Vilnius to liquidate it.

The move marks the beginning of the end for Leo LT, which was technically the biggest company in the Baltics during its brief life, valued at around 5 billion litas (2 billion dollars).

However, Leo LT will live on despite the vote, as the process of unwinding the various complex agreements that created it could take a year or more.

Vilnius  - Shareholders of a huge Lithuanian company formed just 14 months ago to serve as a "national energy champion" voted Friday in Vilnius to liquidate it.

The move marks the beginning of the end for Leo LT, which was technically the biggest company in the Baltics during its brief life, valued at around 5 billion litas (2 billion dollars).

However, Leo LT will live on despite the vote as the process of unwinding the various complex agreements that created it could take a year or more.

Vilnius - The shutdown of Lithuania's sole nuclear power plant at the end of this year will not make the country dependent on Russia for all of its energy supplies, Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius said Thursday.

"There could be supplies from Estonia, Belarus, Ukraine and Russia itself. We do not see that it is necessary to award (contracts for) imports from neighbouring countries to any particular monopoly," Kubilius said on Lithuanian radio.

Vilnius  - Trade unionists representing workers in one of Lithuania's largest retail chains protested outside the German Embassy in Vilnius Thursday, calling on parent company REWE Group to intervene on their behalf.

About 30 employees of the IKI supermarket chain, which is partly owned by the German retailing giant REWE, presented a petition to the embassy listing numerous grievances, including poor working conditions, compulsory pay cuts and "union-busting" actions by

managers.

Vilnius  - 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.

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.

Vilnius/Riga - Government officials in Lithuania reached agreement Wednesday with Jewish organizations over the future of an historic cemetery in the capital city, Vilnius, putting an end to a long-running dispute over the site.

The Snipiskes cemetery was closed in 1831 during the Tsarist era and a sports centre was constructed over part of the site during the Soviet occupation of Lithuania.

Vilnius - Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite promised descendants of the country's Jewish community that they would receive restitution Monday.

Washington  - 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.