KABUL (Reuters/AFP) - Exiled Uzbek leader General Abdul Rashid Dostum, whose supporters could swing this weeks presidential election, returned to Afghanistan on Sunday after being given a government all-clear. Dostums supporters, who gave him 10 per cent of the vote in the 2004 election, had threatened to withdraw their backing for President Hamid Karzai on Aug 20 unless the former communist general was allowed to return. An aide for the former general said he arrived in Kabul on Sunday night. Yes, he is back, Sayed Noorullah told Reuters. Dostum, a former communist general and wily politician, has been in Turkey since last year when the Afghan government released him from house arrest imposed for fighting with a rival. It was never made clear if Dostums exile was ordered or self-imposed, but a government statement earlier said there was no legal reason to prevent him from returning. General Abdul Rashid Dostum can travel abroad and can return home as an Afghan citizen and on the basis of the constitution, the government statement said. He has total freedom in this regard. There is no legal block for his frequenting and for choosing a place.