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| Syrian fighter pilot defects to Jordan | 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. | 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. | Syrian state TV said a fighter plane, flown by an air force colonel, had gone missing during a training mission. |
| The incident comes amid shelling in the city of Homs where Red Cross teams are poised to evacuate civilians. | The incident comes amid shelling in the city of Homs where Red Cross teams are poised to evacuate civilians. |
| 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. | 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. | 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. |
| The Syrian state news agency Sana named the pilot as Col Hassan Mirei al-Hamadeh, and said his plane was near the southern border when contact was lost at around 10:34 (07:34 GMT). | The Syrian state news agency Sana named the pilot as Col Hassan Mirei al-Hamadeh, and said his plane was near the southern border when contact was lost at around 10:34 (07:34 GMT). |
| A Jordanian security source said the pilot had flown from al-Dumair military airport, north-east of Damascus. | |
| Heavy shelling | |
| In Homs, government forces and rebel fighters agreed on Wednesday to a two-hour ceasefire to allow aid workers into the worst affected areas. | |
| The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), along with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, has teams ready to evacuate civilians and deliver aid, but shelling was continuing. | |
| Waleed Faris, a resident of one area the ICRC was trying to enter, said shelling had been heaviest at dawn on Thursday but there were signs it was subsiding. | |
| "Early this morning there was heavy shelling. Now I can hear one or two mortars fall every half an hour. It is quiet today compared to the past few days," he told Reuters news agency. | |
| The ICRC's regional head of operations, Beatrice Megevand-Roggo, said fighting had been raging for more than 10 days and hundreds of people were trapped. | |
| The BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut says it appears some practical details could also be holding up the mission, such as how many aid vehicles are allowed in and where the wounded would be transferred to. | |
| It could take hours, or days, to resolve, he says. |