Kuwait City  - Kuwait's emir reappointed on Wednesday former prime minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammed al-Sabah, who resigned last month, and asked him to form a new cabinet, the official KUNA news agency reported.

The Kuwaiti government resigned on November 25 in an effort to prevent parliament from questioning the prime minister about a visit to Kuwait by a Shiite Iranian cleric, who was banned from visiting the Gulf state.

On November 18, three Sunni lawmakers called for the questioning of the prime minister.

They accused him of intervening to help the controversial cleric visit Kuwait, even though he had been convicted by a Kuwaiti court of insulting the companions of the Prophet Muhammad, a highly sensitive issue in the predominantly Sunni nation.

The upcoming cabinet formation will be the fifth which Sheikh Nasser has lead. It is also the 26th cabinet in Kuwait's 46 years as an independent state.

There have been many previous confrontations between the government and members of parliament. In 2007, the parliament was also dissolved after conflicts between the lawmakers and the government.

Kuwait is separated by a narrow strip of water from majority-Shiite Muslim Iran. (dpa)