World Bulletin / News Desk

A Syrian MiG 21 fighter jet landed in Jordan on Thursday in what opposition activists said was the first defection involving an aircraft since the start of a 15-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

"The plane landed at King Hussein Airbase at 11 a.m. (0800 GMT)," a Jordanian security source told Reuters, referring to a military airport 80 kms (50 miles) northest of the capital Amman.

Syrian state television said communication was lost with a plane of the same model at 10:34 a.m. while it was on a training mission near the southern border with Jordan.