DAMASCUS – Violence in Syria killed 119 people on Thursday, among them 66 civilians and 43 government troops, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding that the death toll included 66 civilians and 43 regime troops."This has been one of the bloodiest days in Syria since the anti-regime revolt broke out in March last year," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.At least 13 civilians were killed in the central city of Homs and another two unidentified people died in nearby Qusayr, the Observatory told AFP.Streaming video from Homs on the bambuser.com website showed smoke billowing from a residential district amid automatic gunfire and mortar blasts.The bombardment aborted two attempts by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Syrian Red Crescent to evacuate trapped civilians, but the agencies vowed to try again on Friday.Meanwhile, a Syrian pilot was granted political asylum after landing his MiG fighter jet in neighbouring Jordan Thursday, in the first such defection of a revolt a watchdog says has killed more than 15,000 people.The blow to President Bashar al-Assad's regime from inside one of the most privileged arms of the security forces came. Syrian state television said the plane was near the border when contact was lost at 0734 GMT, and Jordan said it crossed the frontier minutes later.The opposition Syrian National Council said: "The plane took off at high speed and flew at low altitude from a military base between Daraa and Sweida in the south of the country... to avoid detection by radar."The Syrian defence ministry denounced Hamade. "The pilot is considered a deserter and a traitor to his country, and to his military honour, and he will be sanctioned under military rules," said a ministry statement carried by state television.Washington welcomed the defection. "This is just one of countless instances where Syrians, including members of the security forces, have rejected the horrific actions of the Assad regime, and certainly it will not be the last," National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said.UN chief Ban Ki-moon discussed the situation with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday on the sidelines of an international conference in Rio de Janeiro, a spokesman said.Reports said Britain and the United States have discussed offering Assad immunity from prosecution if he steps down as part of a political transition package, but Britain's Foreign Office said "no new offer" was on the table.Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, whose government retains close ties with the Syrian government, said any peace plan that calls for Assad to leave power and go into exile would not work because he would not quit."I do not think Assad will be sitting down at the negotiating table," said Lavrov, pointing to the results of a widely criticised May 7 parliamentary election which he said showed a majority still backed the Syrian leader.