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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
U.S. applauds Syrian pilot's defection
WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration is praising a Syrian fighter pilot for flying his MiG-21 warplane to Jordan and asking for political asylum.
Col. Hassan Hammadeh's defection is the first by an air force pilot with his plane in the 16-month uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland and Pentagon spokesman George Little say the U.S. has long called for members of the Syrian military to refuse orders that might endanger civilians. Nuland called Hammadeh "very courageous" for leaving on a plane worth some $25 million.
The air force has been fiercely loyal to Assad. The defection suggests allegiances may be fraying.
-- The Associated Press
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 22, 2012 A18
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