DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Islamic
State militants beheaded one of
Syria's most prominent
antiquities scholars in the
ancient town of Palmyra, then
hung his body from one of the town's Roman columns, Syrian
state media and an activist
group said Wednesday. The killing of 81-year-old Khaled
al-Asaad was the latest atrocity
perpetrated by the militant
group, which has captured a
third of both Syria and
neighboring Iraq and declared a self-styled "caliphate" on the
territory it controls.Since IS overran Palmyra in May,
there have been fears the
extremists, who have destroyed
famed archaeological sites in
Iraq, would demolish the 2,000-
year-old Roman-era city at the edge of the town — a UNESCO
world heritage site and one of
the Mideast's most spectacular
archaeological sites. The Sunni extremist group, which
has imposed a violent
interpretation of Islamic law, or
Shariah, believes ancient relics
promote idolatry. IS militants
claim they are destroying ancient artifacts and
archaeological treasures as part
of their purge of paganism. The
destruction IS has wreaked adds
to the wider, extensive damage
it has inflicted on ancient sites, including mosques and churches
across Syria and Iraq. According to Syrian state news
agency SANA and the Britain-
based Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights, al-Assad was
beheaded on Tuesday in a
square outside the town's museum. The Observatory, which
has a network of activists on
the ground in Syria, said dozens
of people gathered to witness
the killing. Al-Asaad had been
held by the IS for about a month, it added. His body was then taken to
Palmyra's archaeological site and
hung from one of the Roman
columns, Maamoun Abdulkarim,
the head of the Antiquities and
Museums Department in Damascus, told SANA. Al-Asaad was "one of the most
important pioneers in Syrian
archaeology in the 20th
century," Abdulkarim said. IS had
tried to extract information
from him about where some of the town's treasures had been
hidden to save them from the
militants, the antiquities chief
also said. SANA said al-Asaad had been in
charge of Palmyra's
archaeological site for four
decades until 2003, when he
retired. After retiring, al-Asaad
worked as an expert with the Antiquities and Museums
Department. Al-Asaad, who held a diploma in
history and education from the
University of Damascus, wrote
many books and scientific texts
either individually or in
cooperation with other Syrian or foreign archeologists, SANA said.
Among his titles are "The
Palmyra sculptures," and
"Zenobia, the Queen of Palmyra
and the Orient." He also discovered several
ancient cemeteries, caves and
the Byzantine cemetery in the
garden of the Museum of
Palmyra, the agency added. "Al-Asaad was a treasure for
Syria and the world," Khalil Hariri,
al-Asaad's son-in-law who works
at the Palmyra's archaeological
department told The Associated
Press, speaking over the phone from the central Syrian city of
Homs. "Why did they kill him?" "Their systematic campaign seeks
to take us back into pre-
history," he added. "But they will
not succeed." Hariri, who is married to al-
Asaad's daughter, Zenobia, said
his father-in-law had been a
member of President Bashar
Assad's ruling Baath party since
1954. Hariri added that al-Asaad is survived by six sons and five
daughters. Since falling to IS, Palmyra's
ancient site has remained intact
but the militants destroyed a
lion statue in the town dating
back to the 2nd century. The
statue, discovered in 1975, had stood at the gates of the town
museum, and had been placed
inside a metal box to protect it
from damage. In early July, IS released a video
showing the killing of some 20
captured government soldiers in
Palmyra's amphitheater. They
were shot dead by young IS
members, armed with pistols. Hundreds of people were seen
watching the killings. Also Wednesday, an IS suicide
bomber targeted a
predominantly Kurdish town in
northeastern Syria, killing at
least 11 people, an activist
group said. The Britain-based Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights
said the explosion happened
outside a local Kurdish police
station in the town of Qamishli. It
also said more than 40 people were wounded in the blast.
Syria's state news agency SANA
also reported the explosion,
saying it killed 13 and wounded
about 50. The Islamic State group has been
fighting Kurdish fighters in Syria
since last year and the
extremists have carried out
dozens of suicide attacks against
the Kurds. The Kurdish fighters, aided by U.S.-led airstrikes, have
also captured significant
territory from IS in northern
Syria. https://uk.m.yahoo.com/w/legobpengine/frontpage/uk.news/beheads-leading-syrian-antiquities-scholar-palmyra-061925887.html?.b=%2Findex&.intl=gb&.lang=en-gb

GOD into ur hand I commit my spirit. Untimely death never our portion in this life. Amen

Islam is a religion of peace, ask Janet Jackson.


May his soul rest in peace.

Somebody please tell Lebanon to behead Ahmed Al Assir immediately.

I don't know where these bastards read it in the Quran that killing innocent souls is also Jihad...... Terrorism is quite different from Jihad.... While the former encourages violence/massacre/wickedness/oriburukuness/.... The latter encourages striving on the path of Allah via encouraging good deeds and forbidding bad deeds(not compulsory you force pipu to quit bad doing though)...... Boko oriburuku, ISIS and oda terrorists, your days are numbered!