Taipei - The Taiwanese Navy has filed a $590-million lawsuit against the same French firm that is at the centre of allegations of corruption in the South African arms deal.

The navy is suing French military contractor Thomson-CFS over a 1991 deal for LaFayette frigates, according to a report in the Liberty Times here.

The six frigates were delivered to the Taiwanese Navy and are in service.

An unnamed military source said the navy had hired a French lawyer to file the lawsuit in a French court against Thomson-CFS, now known as Thales.

The navy is demanding that Thomson-CFS return the $500-million kickback paid to French and Chinese officials to smooth the deal.

It is also seeking $90m for the damage the LaFayette scandal caused to its image.

The hearing for the civil suit in Taiwan is expected to open next month.

Taiwan ordered six LaFayette frigates from France in 1991 for $2,8 billion to beef up its sea defences against mainland China.

The contract barred the taking of commissions, but French middlemen sought $500m from Taipei to remove the Chinese and French governments' opposition to the deal.

China bars France, which has diplomatic ties with Beijing, from selling arms to Taiwan. China considers Taiwan its breakaway province.

France has jailed Christine Devier-Joncour, to whom $10m was paid through a bank account in Switzerland after the deal for the warships went through. Devier-Joncour is a close friend of former French foreign minister Roland Dumas.

Prosecutors said Devier-Joncour received the money as a lobbying fee from Elf-Aquitaine, the French oil giant that was pushing the ships' sale on behalf of Thomson-CFS.

According to the French press, the rest of the $500m kickback was paid to French and Chinese officials, including those close to late Chinese president Deng Xiaoping.

With acknowledgements to Sapa and the Cape Times.