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Syria releases key Kurdish activist

DAMASCUS, Feb 17, 2007 (AFP) - Syrian authorities have released the deputy head of the banned Kurdish political party Yakiti, who was arrested nearly two months ago, a human rights group said Saturday.

Mehieddin Sheikh Ali was set free Friday after being taken into custody on December 20 in the northern city of Aleppo, the National Organisation of Human Rights in Syria said.

The rights body's head, Ammar Qorabi, said Ali was a "moderate and his arrest was unjustified," adding that he hoped the release would mark a "first step toward the release of all political detainees."

Yakiti, also known as the Kurdish Democratic Union, was among several opposition parties that signed a declaration in Damascus in October 2005 calling for democratic change in the country.

Ali was seized by security officers while sitting in a cafe, drawing ire from rights group over the government's state of emergency laws, which allow arrests without warrants.

Syria is home to some 1.5 million Kurds, or around nine percent of the population. They have been fighting to have their language, culture and political rights recognized.

There are 11 Kurdish parties in Syria and all are officially banned.