PARIS, France - Kuwait has appointed interior minister Sheikh Talal Khalid al - Ahmad as caretaker defence minister, the government media office said on Monday.
Sheikh Talal will have the job while Defence Minister Sheikh Abdullah Ali Adbullah Al-Sabah is on leave, the media office said without elaborating. Local media on Sunday said Sheikh Abdullah has resigned from his position.
The decision came a few days after the Gulf state's parliament revived plans to investigate an Airbus military aircraft order from Kuwait following corruption allegations.
The government media office did not address the minister's leave and whether it was linked to the parliament's probe.
A government spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The National Assembly on Wednesday said it had set up an investigative committee to look into contracts signed in 2016 to purchase 30 Caracal military helicopters from Airbus and 28 European Eurofighter jets.
The Airbus helicopter deal had serious technical issues, the assembly said in a statement posted on its website.
''The deal (Eurofighter) was marred by observations and irregularities mentioned by the (Kuwaiti) Audi Bureau'', it added.
Governments and airlines around the world have launched their own investigation after Airbus in 2020 reached a record $4 billion settlement with prosecutors in Britain, France and the United States over alleged bribery and corruption stretching back more than a decade.
