Kuwait/France/US - arms deals

Kuwaiti MPs open probe into Western arms deals

Article published on the 2009-11-03 Latest update 2009-11-03 19:10 TU

French-made Rafale aircraft.
(Photo: Olivier Fourt/ RFI)

Kuwaiti members of parliament voted unanimously on Tuesday to investigate billion-dollar arms deals inked with the United States and France after one MP alleged that Defence Minister Sheikh Jaber al-Mubarak al-Sabah was not forthcoming on the details of the deals. He was not present for the 32-member vote, nor did cabinet ministers object to the vote.

After the vote, the members called on the independent Audit Bureau to investigate whether the three deals were in compliance with Kuwaiti laws.

The contracts include the purchase of US Hercules transport aircraft, an ammunition factory and up to 28 French-made Rafale airplanes. MPs were alerted to the deal when they were not given the specifics as to how many aircraft were part of the deal.

Some opposition MPs said that the price tag of the three deals was inflated.

Kuwait and France signed a major defense deal last month, and the possible purchase of Rafale planes were discussed. Sheikh Jaber was in Paris for the talks and approved the Rafale deal but handed over the plans to technical teams for further analysis.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said last February that  discussions had begun with Kuwait for the sale of between 14 and 28 aircraft.