Former member of parliament and businessman Abdulla Jabir has on Monday tweeted that he is near his home country, and that he hopes to step foot in a free, democratic Maldives where there is no President Abdulla Yameen.

In the tweet typed out in Dhivehi, Jabir wrote that he is currently in neighboring Colombo, Sri Lanka.

"Milan, Italy to London, England and from there to Colombo, Sri Lanka. With the grace of Allah I will hopefully step foot in a free, democratic Maldives where there is no President Yameen" reads the tweet.

Jabir who is also adviser to former President and leader of opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), has been living in the United Kingdom since the British government granted him asylum in April this year.

While Jabir has been a resident in the UK for a long period, he was in June last year denied immediate entry to Britain after a trip to Italy, following the travel ban imposed on him by the Maldivian government.

He was allowed entry after being detained in Gatwick Airport for 15 hours following which his wife and ex-Attorney General Dhiyana Saeed denounced the travel ban imposed on him as having no legal basis and an attempt to intimidate her husband.

Dhiyana is currently residing in the Maldives.