Defected pilot a 'traitor': Syrian defence ministry

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Syria on Thursday denounced an air force pilot who defected as a 'traitor' and said it wanted to recover the warplane he used to flee to neighbouring Jordan.

"The pilot is considered a deserter and a traitor to his country, and to his military honour, and he will be sanctioned under military rules," state television quoted the defence ministry as saying.

"Relevant contacts have been made with the authorities in Jordan in order to recover the jet on which the traitor pilot made his getaway," it added.

Jordan granted political asylum to Colonel Hassan Merei al-Hamade on Thursday, hours after he landed at a military base in the kingdom in the first such air force defection in the 15-month revolt against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

A Jordan Armed Forces statement said the Russian-made MiG-21 landed at 07.45 GMT. According to Syrian state television, authorities had 'lost contact with a MiG-21 while it was on a training mission'.

In a statement, Syria's main opposition coalition welcomed Jordan's decision to grant the pilot asylum, and praised Hamade for "choosing to stand by his people and his revolution... by refusing to be an instrument of murder and destruction."

The Syrian National Council (SNC) called on "troops and especially pilots, who are being forced by the regime to bomb civilian areas, to refuse orders and to (defect) on their jets, en route to neighbouring countries who support our people and the revolution."

Defection is an 'act of honour', both for military personnel and their families, the SNC added.

SNC spokesman George Sabra said Hamade "is from Deir Ezzor (in eastern Syria) and his family is known for its opposition" to Assad's regime.

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.

From the start of the anti-regime revolt in March last year, tens of thousands of Syrian soldiers have defected from the army, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human rights.

Thousands have joined the rebel Free Syrian Army while others have fled the country or gone into hiding, the Britain-based watchdog says.