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TIME: Almanac 1990
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1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
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102389
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10238900.027
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1990-09-22
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WORLD, Page 59World NotesISRAELInfrequent Flyer
A camouflaged MiG-23 interceptor of the Syrian air force took
off from a base near Damascus last week, flew on a training mission
to the Golan Heights, then dropped to 164 ft. and zoomed straight
into Israel. It landed on a civilian airstrip at Megiddo, 57 miles
north of Jerusalem, where its pilot, Major Mohammed Bassem Adel,
34, asked for political asylum. At a press conference last week,
he said he had defected because "I would like to live in a
democratic state."
Not since 1966, when an Iraqi landed in central Israel, had an
Arab pilot defected to Israel. Embarrassed Syrians claimed engine
trouble had forced the plane to land. The MiG was equipped with new
electronics that Israeli intelligence officers were eager to
inspect, and Adel seemed willing to tell all. But Jerusalem was
still not happy. News that the MiG had flown undetected over Israel
for seven minutes stirred a public storm of anger, and Defense
Minister Yitzhak Rabin promised "a thorough investigation."