Jordan grants asylum to defecting Syrian pilot

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Jordan granted political asylum to a Syrian pilot on Thursday hours after he landed his jet at a military air base in the kingdom, in the first such air force defection in the 15-month revolt.

"The council of ministers has decided to grant the pilot, Colonel Hassan Merei al-Hamade, political asylum, on his request," Information Minister Samih Maaytah said.

A Jordan Armed Forces statement said the Syrian air force Russian-made MiG-21 landed at 0745 GMT.

"The jet landed safely at a Jordanian military air base, and the pilot has asked for political asylum," it added.

A government official said that the pilot 'made an emergency landing at the King Hussein air base in Mafraq', in northern Jordan near the border with Syria.

According to Syrian state television, authorities had "lost contact with a MiG-21 while it was on a training mission."

"The plane, flown by Colonel Hassan Merei al-Hamade, was near the southern border of Syria when contact was lost at around 10:34 am (0734 GMT)," the report said.

Georges Sabra, spokesman for the Syrian National Council, the main exiled opposition group, said the pilot had "defected."

"The plane took off at high speed and flew at low altitude from a military base situated between Daraa and Sweida in the south of the country," Sabra said. "These planes usually fly in twos or threes, not alone.

"It is certain that the pilot has defected," he added. "It is not normal that a jet should take off at such speed. It is to avoid detection by radar," said Sabra.

"The pilot is from Deir Ezzor (in eastern Syria) and his family is known for its opposition" to President Bashar al-Assad's regime, he added.

More than 120,000 Syrians fleeing the violence in their homeland have taken refuge in Jordan, according to the Amman government. The United Nations has registered 20,000 of them.

More than 15,000 people people have been killed in Syria since the uprising against Assad's rule erupted in March last year, according to a human rights watchdog.