Kuwait's exiled opposition returns home after royal pardon

Several prominent Kuwaiti opposition figures have returned home from a decade of self-exile after getting amnesty from the ruling emir

KUWAIT CITY -- Several prominent Kuwaiti opposition figures have returned home from a decade of self-exile after getting amnesty from the ruling emir, a long-awaited move celebrated Tuesday that's aimed at ending the political paralysis that has burned a hole in public finances.

Faisal al-Muslim was the latest to be greeted early Tuesday by screams of joy from relatives and supporters who had gathered at the open-air diwaniya, the all-male customary Kuwaiti gathering. Attendees in traditional white robes and checkered headdresses crowded around al-Muslim, jostling to shake his hand.

Al-Muslim is among several opposition Islamist lawmakers who had been sentenced to prison for storming the Kuwaiti Parliament amid the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011 as the government moved to grind out dissent. Like many, he fled and had been living in exile in Turkey as the country's remaining opposition pressed the emir to issue a royal pardon and pave the way for their return.

The emir issued the amnesty decree earlier this month as tensions escalated between Kuwait’s fully-elected parliament and emir-appointed government, with angry lawmakers using their limited powers to block the government’s economic reforms.