InfoAnda - Syrian fighter pilot defects to Jordan, gets asylum |

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

Rihanna postpones show, police continue probe | Entertainment | | 12 February 2009
China court sides with Baidu in music piracy case | 27 January 2010
Dell quells rumors about music player | Technology | | 11 November 2008

Sirius creditors threaten to oust CEO: report | Technology | | 16 February 2009

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Syrian fighter pilot defects to Jordan, gets asylum |

Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Home Business Business Home Economy Technology Media Small Business Legal Deals Earnings Social Pulse Business Video The Freeland File Markets Markets Home U.S. Markets European Markets Asian Markets Global Market Data Indices M&A Stocks Bonds Currencies Commodities Futures Funds peHUB World World Home U.S. Brazil China Euro Zone Japan Mexico Russia India Insight World Video Reuters Investigates Decoder Politics Politics Home Election 2012 Campaign Polling Tales from the Trail Political Punchlines Supreme Court Politics Video Tech Technology Home MediaFile Science Tech Video Tech Tonic Social Pulse Opinion Opinion Home Chrystia Freeland John Lloyd Felix Salmon Jack Shafer David Rohde Bernd Debusmann Nader Mousavizadeh Lucy P. Marcus David Cay Johnston Bethany McLean Edward Hadas Hugo Dixon Ian Bremmer Lawrence Summers Susan Glasser The Great Debate Steven Brill Jack & Suzy Welch Frederick Kempe Christopher Papagianis Breakingviews Equities Credit Private Equity M&A Macro & Markets Politics Breakingviews Video Money Money Home Tax Break Lipper Awards 2012 Global Investing MuniLand Unstructured Finance Linda Stern Mark Miller John Wasik James Saft Analyst Research Alerts Watchlist Portfolio Stock Screener Fund Screener Personal Finance Video Money Clip Investing 201 Life Health Sports Arts Faithworld Business Traveler Entertainment Oddly Enough Lifestyle Video Pictures Pictures Home Reuters Photographers Full Focus Video Reuters TV Reuters News Article Comments (10) Slideshow Video Full Focus Editor's choice A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. See more Images of May Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Poll showing Obama 13 points ahead raises eyebrows 20 Jun 2012 Sex abuse trial of ex-coach Sandusky heads to jury 10:59am EDT Special Report: New EU states struggle to spend Brussels billions 7:26am EDT Weak global data drags Wall Street 1 percent lower | 12:00pm EDT Syrian fighter pilot defects to Jordan, gets asylum | 12:25pm EDT Discussed 160 U.S. deserter in Sweden steps forward after 28 years 125 Joy and anger as Obama relaxes deportation rules 123 Obama campaign requests outside Republican group disclose donors Watched 'Anti-social' talk stirs debate at LeWeb Wed, Jun 20 2012 Egypt awaits election results Wed, Jun 20 2012 Student's sprint shoe offers path to running success Wed, Jun 20 2012 Pictures Reuters Photojournalism Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more | Photo caption Megacities Cities of over 10 million are growing fast. Slideshow Highest-paid actresses The ten highest-paid actresses in Hollywood. Slideshow Syrian fighter pilot defects to Jordan, gets asylum Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Jordan grants political asylum to Syrian fighter pilot 10:42am EDT Syria says defector pilot is a traitor, wants jet back 11:25am EDT ICRC, Syrian Red Crescent forced to turn back from Homs 9:13am EDT Syria activists using U.S. tech to beat curbs 11:26am EDT Russia confirms Syria-bound ship carried helicopters: Lavrov 9:04am EDT Arab League urges Russia to end Syria arms sales 9:00am EDT Arab League expects action, not words at Syria meeting 12:09pm EDT Analysis & Opinion Obama, Romney and leading from the front in Syria Will Syria’s Assad get away with murder Related Topics World » United Nations » Aerospace & Defense » Jordan » Syria » Related Video Heavy shelling targets Syria's Homs 10:39am EDT World leaders discuss Syria 1 of 16. Demonstrators protest against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad at Al Sukri in Aleppo June 19, 2012. Picture taken June 19, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Shaam News Network/Handout By Suleiman Al-Khalidi and Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN | Thu Jun 21, 2012 12:25pm EDT AMMAN (Reuters) - A Syrian air force pilot flew his MiG-21 fighter plane over the border to Jordan and was granted political asylum on Thursday, the first defection with a military aircraft since the start of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. The pilot landed at the King Hussein military air base 80 km (50 miles) northeast of Amman and immediately asked for sanctuary, Jordanian officials told Reuters. "The cabinet has decided to grant the Syrian pilot political asylum upon his request," Jordan's Minister of State for Information Samih al-Maaytah told Reuters. Syria's defense ministry called the pilot a "traitor to his country and his military honor". In a statement it said it would punish the man, named as Colonel Hassan Hamada, under military law. Syria was in contact with Jordanian authorities to retrieve the aircraft, it added. The defection will boost the morale of the rebel movement fighting Assad at a time when government forces are intensifying efforts to crush the uprising and international peace efforts are stalled. Thousands of soldiers have deserted government ranks in the 15 months since the revolt broke out and they now form the backbone of the rebel army. But unlike last year's uprisings in Libya and Yemen, no members of Assad's inner circle have broken with him. Elsewhere on Thursday, the Syrian army maintained its bombardment of downtown areas of Homs even though a temporary truce had been agreed to allow aid workers to evacuate the sick and wounded. The International Committee of the Red Cross said its aid workers had been forced to turn back on the way into Homs old city because of shooting but would try again later in the day. "The shelling across the city has been relentless since last night, intensifying this morning. The army has no intention of relieving the humanitarian situation. They want Homs destroyed," activist Abu Salah told Reuters from Homs. The pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 125 people were killed around the country during the day, with at least 18 of them in Homs. DEFECTIONS Opposition sources said pilot Hamada is a 44-year-old Sunni Muslim from Idlib province and he had smuggled his family to Turkey before his dramatic defection. His hometown Kfar Takharim has been repeatedly shelled in the past several months and suffered intense artillery and helicopter bombardments in the last few days, opposition campaigners who spoke to his family said. Many air force personnel and well as army soldiers are from Syria's Sunni majority, although intelligence and senior officers are largely Alawite, the minority sect to which Assad and his family belong and which forms their power base. The International Institute for Strategic Studies says the air force has 365 combat capable aircraft, including 50 MiG-23 Flogger and MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters and 40,000 personnel - a reflection of the overwhelming military advantage Assad has over his poorly-equipped foes. The most prominent defection so far in the conflict was that of Colonel Riad al-Asaad last July, who helped set up the rebel Free Syria Army after taking refuge in Turkey. Last week Brigadier General Ahmad Berro, head of a tank unit in Aleppo province, fled with his family to Turkey. Though a boost to Assad's foes, the pilot's defection could complicate the international scenarios of a conflict that many governments fear could spill over Syria's border and spread though the already volatile Middle East. Ties between Jordan and Syria were already strained - Jordan has criticized Assad over his crackdown on the uprising but has been restrained in its rhetoric. Amman is nervous over a possible Syrian military reaction after months of border tension as thousands of Syrians flee the violence to Jordan. A Jordanian official, who asked not to be named, said the incident with the pilot was "difficult to handle". MORNING BARRAGE In Homs, dawn broke to heavy shelling but the barrages eased up during the day, resident Waleed Faris said. "Now I can hear one or two mortars fall every half an hour. It is quiet today compared to the past few days," he said. Two people were killed in his neighborhood of Khalidiya on Thursday, he said. Homs has been at the center of the revolt against four decades of dynastic rule by the Assad family and became the focus of world concern in February and March when opposition-held neighborhoods endured weeks of government bombardments and sniper fire in which hundreds of people were killed. In other violence on Thursday, activists said 18 people were killed when government forces rained shells on the village of Enkhel in the southern Deraa province, birthplace of the revolt. Video posted on the Internet showed nine bodies wrapped in blankets and surrounded by weeping men and women. Syrian state news agency SANA said 21 law enforcement members and civilians were buried on Thursday. The United Nations says more than 10,000 people have been killed by Assad's forces during the conflict. The government says at least 2,600 members of the military and security forces have been killed by what it characterizes as a plot by foreign-backed "Islamist terrorists" to bring it down. With a joint U.N.-Arab League ceasefire plan in tatters and the international community divided, world leaders and diplomats have been unable to stop the bloodshed. The Arab League's deputy secretary general, Ahmed Ben Helli, criticized Russia on Thursday for selling arms to Syria and said that U.N. sanctions could be needed to force Assad and the rebels to implement international envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan. "Any assistance in aiding violence should be stopped. When you deliver military equipment you are helping to kill people. That should be stopped," he told Russia's Interfax news agency. Russia, one of Assad's main suppliers of military equipment, has shielded its long-standing ally Syria from tougher U.N. sanctions. It says the solution must come through political dialogue, an approach most of the Syrian opposition rejects. (Additional reporting by Oliver Holmes, Erika Solomon and Dominic Evans in Beirut, Thomas Grove in Moscow, Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva, David Cutler in London; Editing by Andrew Heavens) World United Nations Aerospace & Defense Jordan Syria Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (10) MetalHead8 wrote: Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Support Corrections Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Podcast Newsletters Mobile About Privacy Policy Terms of Use AdChoices Copyright Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Other News on Thursday, 21 June 2012
Hamas signals ready for truce after Israel kills 2 |
Controversial U.N. Congo report delayed, not blocked: envoys |
Obama makes condolence call to Saudi King Abdullah |
More than 100 killed in west Libya clashes in a week |
Eleven Islamist militants killed in southern Yemen |
Three NATO soldiers among 20 dead in Afghan suicide bombing |
Sectarian violence kills more in Nigeria's Kaduna |
Microsoft brings phone software closer to Windows |
Yahoo, Facebook seek more time for settlement talks |
LinkedIn sued for $5 million over data breach |
SAS says spurned IBM and others for independence |
Finnish government won't buy Nokia shares: PM |
Steve Carell goes from Office to end of the world |
98 Degrees test heat for reunion with summer show |
A Minute With: Aaron Sorkin on The Newsroom |
Country singer Wynonna Judd marries for third time |
Usher debuts at top of Billboard 200 for fourth time |
Vote result delay frays Egyptian nerves |
Pakistan president nominates party loyalist for PM |
Afghanistan expects $4 billion in aid pledges at July conference |
Boat carrying 200 capsizes between Indonesia and Australia |
Exclusive: U.S. to slap terrorist label on Nigerian militants |
China tests troubled waters with $1 billion rig for South China Sea |
China's Ai Weiwei threatened with bigamy, pornography charges |
Celebrities, activists risk losing Assange bail money |
Analysis: With Siri and new alliances, Apple takes on Google search |
Microsoft demurs at Motorola patent settlement offer |
Apple fined in Australia for misleading iPad advertising |
Huawei to launch Windows 8 phones, new branding campaign |
Facebook's unique visitors slipped in May: comScore |
Halloween actor Richard Lynch dies aged 76 |
Famed sports painter LeRoy Neiman dead at 91 |
Syrian fighter pilot defects to Jordan, gets asylum |
Israel says clock ticking after Iran talks fail |
Prosecutors want mass killer Breivik ruled insane |
More than half Kuwait's parliament resigns |
Myanmar's Suu Kyi supports Thein Sein UK invite |
Indonesia court convicts militant for making Bali bombs |
Russia's Putin wants new economy, warns on protests |
Explosives prompt Sweden nuclear plant probe |
Greek bailout wish-list sets up showdown with Europe |
Acer slates Microsoft's hardware push |
Insight: Look, no hands! Augmented reality gets a grip |
Executive who criticized Oracle president quits |
Analysis: Solar firms seek new financing as subsidies fade |
Rise of gadgets doubles costs of lightning damage |
Cypress raises offer for Ramtron to $95 million |
3M pays $110 million for Federal Signal highway technology |
Universal Music uses star power for merger hearing |
Celebrities back Greenpeace campaign to protect Arctic |
Conductor Adam Fischer: Wagner's music like opium |
European Union lawmakers reject global copyright pact |
Court rules against FCC in TV profanity, nudity cases |
98 Degrees test heat for reunion with summer show |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph	VPN on MacOSX	BlogMeter 1.01