Syrian pilot requests political asylum in Jordan

A Syrian MiG-21 landed at the Mafraq base in the northern part of Jordan on Thursday. Its pilot Col. Hasan Hammadeh requested political asylum, Information Minister Samih al-Maaytah said, Interfax reports.

Xinhua reported that the landing was caused by technical malfunctioning. The plane and the pilot would be back to Syria, the source says.

Syria has 140-219 MiG-21s. The first models were designed by Soviet specialists Mikoyan and Gurevich in mid-1950s.