In Bid to End Crisis, Kuwait's Parliament Is Dissolved KUWAIT (AP) - Kuwait's ruler dissolved Parliament on Sunday, a step toward ending months of political gridlock and calling the second elections this year that could again swing in favor of Islamist-led opposition groups. The move by Kuwait's leader, Sheik Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, announced on state-run media, followed a failed attempt last month by the government to overturn a voting district law that appeared to favor the opposition. New elections must now be held within 60 days. Kuwait is one of the United States" most strategic military allies in the Persian Gulf. Its strategic importance to Washington rose sharply after the United States troop withdrawal from Iraq in December. It is now the hub for American ground forces in the region. Kuwait has been locked in a political limbo for months as the government tried to challenge the voting system in the February elections, which gave Islamists and allies control of the 50-seat Parliament. A stopgap Parliament, composed of lawmakers elected in 2009, was installed in June, but it never held any sessions. Opposition leaders had called on Sheik Sabah to end the impasse and call new elections. Kuwait has not faced widespread unrest since the Arab Spring uprisings erupted last year across the Middle East, but it has been locked in deepening political battles and labor upheavals that have stalled many development plans. The country was hit by a wave of strikes earlier this year, including walkouts that grounded the state carrier, Kuwait Airways, and temporarily closed customs posts and left hundreds trucks stranded at the border. Calls for better working conditions have grown louder in the wake of the Arab Spring. Kuwaitis are used to well-paid government jobs and cradle-to-grave benefits that increasingly have become a burden on state finances.