Bassem Youssef, pictured in London last year, has returned to state TV. Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP

Egyptian-American comedian and satirist Bassem Youssef made a long-awaited comeback to Egyptian TV on Tuesday night, having been off air for more than a decade after going into exile following intense pressure from Egyptian authorities over his critical political satire.

Youssef appeared on a talk show on ON TV, an Arabic-language television network owned by a company with ties to Egyptian intelligence, making it de facto state-sanctioned media.

The announcement of Youssef’s comeback was first made by ON TV last month and later confirmed by Youssef himself.

The exiled comedian left Egypt in 2014 and has since become a naturalized US citizen.

He appeared as a virtual guest on Ahmed S

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