Authorities in Kuwait have detained a former liberal opposition lawmaker for allegedly insulting the Gulf state’s ruler and criticizing a visit by the Egyptian president, his lawyer said on Wednesday.

Authorities in Kuwait have detained a former liberal opposition lawmaker for allegedly insulting the Gulf state's ruler and criticizing a visit by the Egyptian president, his lawyer said on Wednesday.

Prosecutors detained Saleh al-Mulla after questioning him on Tuesday night about comments made on Twitter, lawyer Abdullah al-Ahmad told AFP.

Ahmad said his client was told the comments were deemed "offensive" to Kuwait's emir and "humiliating" for Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who concluded a two-day visit to Kuwait on Tuesday.

Mulla was accused of threatening Kuwaiti-Egyptian relations by criticizing Sisi, the lawyer said.

In his tweets, Mulla repeatedly urged Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah not to give more financial aid to Sisi. In one tweet, he said any money given to Sisi should be taken back by Kuwaitis.

Kuwait along with other Gulf states backed Sisi following the military overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood’s president Mohammadd Mursi in July 2013. It has offered Cairo aid worth some $4 billion.

Mulla was a member of parliament for several years before he boycotted elections in December 2012 in protest against the government's amendment of the electoral law.
Other opposition activists had launched an online campaign against Sisi's visit, urging authorities not to give more funds to Egypt.