By Timour Azhari

(Reuters) -Foreign fighters and others who joined Syria's civil war from abroad have petitioned the new Islamist-led government for citizenship, arguing they have earned it after sweeping to power with rebels who ousted former leader Bashar al-Assad.

The fate of foreign fighters has loomed large since Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) took power, with few states willing to take back people they often view as extremists and some Syrians wary of their presence.

Many of the fighters and their families, and others including aid workers and journalists who joined the rebels, have no valid documentation. Some have been stripped of their original citizenship, and fear lengthy prison sentences or even death in their countries of origin.

But rewarding them with Syrian citizenship could alienate Syrians and foreign states whose support the new government is seeking as it tries to unify and rebuild a country devastated by war and shaken by sectarian killings.

A petition submitted to Syria's interior ministry on Thursday, seen by Reuters, argues the foreigners should be granted citizenship so they can settle down, own land and even travel.

"We shared bread, we shared sorrow, and we shared in the hope for a free and just future for Syria ... Yet for us, the muhajireen (emigrants),........

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