“The cooperation between the judicial authorities in France and Malaysia is very good. They have been in contact with the new Malaysian attorney-general on all issues related to past questions, and I sense a strong willingness to cooperate on both sides.

“These issues are in good hands and they are being dealt with,” he told Bernama in a recent interview in conjunction with the French national day on July 14.

However, he added that he could not comment further on the matter as it came under the jurisdiction of the French judiciary, which is an entirely independent body in the country.

Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu was reported as saying last month that the Cabinet would discuss the establishment of a task force to look into alleged corruption in the 2002 purchase of two French submarines.

The purchase of the Scorpene-class submarines and one Agosta-class submarine from French naval dockyards unit DCN, worth nearly €1 billion (US$1.17 billion), was overseen by former prime minister Najib Razak who was also defence minister at the time.

Guan Eng: French judiciary pursuing Scorpene corruption scandal