Syria plans to grant citizenship to 300,000 Kurds living in the country, a Kurdish representative told the London based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat.
Shakib Hajou, a representative of the Kurdish Haderkan tribe from the Al-Hasakah district, said a 43-member delegation representing all the Kurdish tribes in Syria, met recently with Baath Party official Muhammad Said Bakhtian, and two other regional politicians in Damascus.
Bakhtian said an order will be issued within the next month granting citizenship to about 300,000 Kurds, Hajou said, unsure if it will be done at the same time or gradually.

The Media Lines analysts say "a gesture of this kind from Damascus toward its Kurdish residents could be a way to appease the international community which has often criticized Syria over its treatment of Kurds. Syria is currently under heavy international pressure regarding the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Al-Hariri in February 2005. The international commission probing the killing has implicated senior Syrians in the incident."
"Syrian Kurds number less than one million people and constitute between 8 and 10 percent of the Syrian population. Kurds who have been in Syria since the state was formed are fully recognized citizens. Over the years, many Kurds infiltrated the country to flee persecution in Iraq and Turkey. These Kurds are not registered as citizens, and are called maktoumin, or hidden ones. They are denied Syrian citizenship, cannot vote or own property and are denied passports or internationally recognized travel documents," The Media Line said.

PHOTO CAPTION

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gives an opening speech for the 22^nd Arab lawyers Union conference in Damascus January 21, 2006. (REUTERS)