Syrian fighter pilot defects to Jordan

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A Syrian fighter plane has landed at a military air base in the north of Jordan and the pilot has asked for asylum, Jordanian officials say.

Jordan's Minister of Information Samih al-Maaytah said the pilot of the MiG 21 jet was being debriefed.

Syrian state TV said a fighter plane, flown by an air force colonel, had gone missing during a training mission.

The incident comes as violence has prevented Red Cross teams from moving civilians out of the old city of Homs.

Unprecedented defection

The Russian-made MiG-21 landed at the King Hussein Air Base in Mafraq, close to the Syrian border, officials said.

It is believed to be the first such defection by a Syrian pilot with his plane.

A spokesman for the rebel Free Syrian Army, Ahmad Kassem, said the group had encouraged the pilot to defect, the Associated Press news agency reported.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18535330