Kuwait Ordered An Investigation Into A 1.1 Billion Deal To Buy 30 Military Helicopters

Kuwait has ordered an investigation into a $1.1 billion deal to buy 30 military helicopters from France, a minister said on Wednesday, after reports of alleged kickbacks. The oil-rich emirate agreed to buy the Airbus Caracal helicopters for one billion euros ($1.1 billion) in August 2016 as part of a package of deals between the two countries worth 2.5 billion euros. “It was decided to refer the Caracal helicopters deal to the Public Anti-Corruption Authority to investigate it and take all relevant measures,” said Anas Al-Saleh, the government spokesman and state minister for Cabinet affairs.

The probe was ordered by Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Sabah, the minister said, quoted by the official KUNA news agency. “With regards to what has been raised in a local daily today … about the Caracal deal, it was also decided to refer the same issue to the Audit Bureau to scrutinise all data, documents and procedures of the deal,” he added.

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The Audit Bureau was told to submit its findings to the Cabinet as soon as possible. The government move came after opposition lawmaker Mubarak Al- Hajraf raised the issue in Parliament on Wednesday and demanded an investigation. He based his arguments on a report by Kuwait’s Al-Rai newspaper which cited an article in the French Marianne magazine which said that a middleman had demanded tens of millions of euros from Airbus as a commission.

SOURCE : ARABTIMES

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