Kuwait Deports Opposition Figure to Saudi

Kuwait has deported a prominent opposition figure to neighbouring Saudi Arabia months after revoking his citizenship, his group said Wednesday.

Saad al-Ajmi, former spokesman of the Popular Action Movement (PAM), was arrested by secret police on Tuesday and escorted to the Saudi city of Khafji by road at night, PAM said in a statement.

As part of a crackdown on the opposition, the Kuwaiti government revoked  Ajmi's citizenship in September on the basis of an article in the nationality law that bans dual citizenship.

Local media said Ajmi was accused of holding Saudi citizenship, which he has denied.

Ajmi has filed a lawsuit to challenge the government's action.

The authorities have revoked the citizenship of several dozen other figures with links to the opposition over the past year, including a former Islamist MP and the owner of a television channel.

PAM said that Ajmi was deported on a one-way Saudi travel document issued by the kingdom's embassy in Kuwait.

There has been no official comment on the issue so far.   

Last October, Human Rights Watch called on Kuwait to stop targeting opponents by revoking their citizenships, and to reinstate their nationalities.