A Syrian fighter jet made an emergency landing Thursday at a northern Jordanian airbase

A Syrian fighter jet made an emergency landing Thursday at a northern Jordanian airbase, a Jordanian government official said.

The official said the Russian-made MiG-21 landed at the King Hussein Air Base in Mafraq, a north Jordanian town near the Syrian border.

“The pilot asked for political asylum in Jordan,” Jordanian Information Minister and government spokesman Samih Maayatah told AFP.
  
Syria's state television said the warplane, flown by Colonel Hassan Merei al-Hamade, was flying near the southern border when contact was lost around 0734 GMT, and Jordan's armed forces said it landed across the frontier minutes later.