The committee is concerned about a possible conflict of interest with non-executive director Michael Wette, who is also Middle East head of management consultants Roland Berger.

Wette was brought onto the board in December 2006. His firm was subsequently hired to advise on the company's restructuring without a contract being put out to tender.

Members of the Bahraini parliament's financial and economic affairs committee have criticised Roland Berger's appointment and Wette's dual role, and are now investigating the entire board structure, with the possibility of parliament setting up a new watchdog covering the airline.

Meanwhile, the Khooheji investigation into alleged accounting irregularities continues. The company has called in UK-based forensic auditing group Kroll to examine its accounts going back several years.

Former chief executive officer James Hogan, who left in late 2006 to become chief executive officer at Abu Dhabi's Etihad, was not available for comment.

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