European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana says he has no information to confirm that the Central Intelligence Agency operated secret flights carrying terrorism suspects over Europe.

Mr. Solana made the comment Tuesday in testimony to a European Parliament committee investigating the claims.

He also told the panel that he had no authority to demand that EU member states hand over information about probes into the reported flights.

Last week, aviation data was presented to the committee showing the CIA conducted more than one thousand secret flights in Europe over the past five years.

The panel is also studying claims that the CIA used secret prisons in some eastern European countries.

The probe was sparked by news reports that said CIA agents had interrogated al-Qaida suspects at the prisons.