Portugal’s attorney general is opening a criminal investigation into claims that CIA flights, some of them allegedly carrying terror suspects, made stopovers in the country, the state-owned news agency reported on Monday.

The agency Lusa quoted Deputy Attorney General Candida Almeida as saying the investigation had ‘many leads’ to pursue after a Portuguese deputy at the European Parliament presented a dossier of allegations.

‘Before, we had no indications (of a crime), but the complaints we have received show areas we might explore,’ Almeida was quoted as saying.

Officials at the attorney general’s office were not immediately available for comment. But authorities often use Lusa to make official announcements.

The attorney general’s decision to launch a formal investigation is embarrassing for the government. Last week, Foreign Minister Luis Amado said authorities had not unearthed any evidence of CIA flights and would not investigate the matter further.

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