"Signing the purchase agreement means we will grill whoever is responsible for authorising the deal," spokesman for the Reform and Development Bloc Faisal al-Muslim told a press conference.

He would not say, however, whether the prime minister or defence minister are among the officials the bloc plans to call to account if the multi-billion-dollar deal to purchase between 14 and 28 Rafale jets goes ahead.

Another of the bloc's MPs, Jamaan al-Harbash, who has campaigned against the deal for several months, produced what he said were documents from the defence ministry recommending that the purchase be dropped.

"The reports concluded that the plane is not technically advanced, its price is very expensive and so are its spare parts. If it goes ahead, the deal will be a massive squandering of public funds," Harbash said.

Both Muslim and Harbash insisted that their opposition to the deal had nothing to do with any animosity against France.

MP Mussallam al-Barrak, spokesman for the opposition four-MP Popular Action Bloc, later declared total support for any political questioning over the Rafale deal.

The visiting chief of staff of the French armed forces, Admiral Edouard Guillaud, defended the Rafale as one of the best warplanes in the world, saying negotiations over the deal are proceeding in complete transparency.

"France has proposed that Kuwait replace the old Mirage jets with the advanced Rafale and the Kuwaiti government asked to study the offer," Guillaud was quoted as saying by the official KUNA news agency.

Guillaud said Kuwait has sent experts to France for a close assessment of the jets, adding that Paris will also make a proposal to sell the plane to the United Arab Emirates.

The Popular Action Bloc has been campaigning against several proposed arms deals, including the Rafale purchase.

Last month, Defence Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak al-Sabah said the Rafale deal remained a priority for Kuwait.

In November, the emirate's parliament voted unanimously to ask the independent Audit Bureau to probe three planned arms deals with the United States and France that one lawmaker said were worth billions of dollars.

The deals include the planned purchase of an unspecified number of US-made Hercules transport aircraft and an ammunition factory, as well as the Rafale fighters.

But Muslim said on Sunday that the accounts watchdog told parliament that it was unable to carry out the probe because the defence ministry failed to provide it with the necessary documents.

In October, Kuwait and France signed a new defence agreement and discussed details of the Rafale deal.

During a Gulf tour in February 2008, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said discussions had begun with Kuwait on the sale of between 14 and 28 Rafales, which are made by France's Dassault Aviation.

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