Isis executes Palmyra antiquities chief and hangs him from ruins he spent a lifetime restoring
Khaled Asaad, 82, is beheaded by militants outside the museum where he worked for more than 50 years looking after the city's ancient artefacts
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Isis militants have tortured and executed the antiquities chief of the ancient city of Palmyra, according to Syrian officials and activists.
A graphic image posted online by Isis-affiliated social media accounts purported to show the decapitated body of 82-year-old Khaled Asaad, his distinctive glasses still placed on his head on the ground.
The head of Syria's department of antiquities said that militants later took Mr Asaad's body from the square where he was executed and hung it from a Roman column in one of the ruins he had dedicated more than 50 years of his life to restoring.
A placard attached to the remains pictured online reportedly claimed Mr Asaad had been killed for overseeing "idols" in the ancient city, attending "infidel" conferences as Syrian representative, and for staying in touch with his brother and with palace officials in the wake of Isis's takeover.
Maamoun Abdulkarim, based in Damascus, said Mr Asaad's family told him the scholar had been held and interrogated by Isis for at least the past month. He said Isis had tried to get information about the city's "treasures" from the expert, without success.
"Just imagine that such a scholar who gave such memorable services to the place and to history would be beheaded," he said. "His corpse [is] still hanging from one of the ancient columns in the centre of a square in Palmyra.
"The continued presence of these criminals in this city is a curse and bad omen on (Palmyra) and every column and every archaeological piece in it."
One of the foremost experts on Palmyra, he published several works in international journals about the city, which was an important trading hub along the Silk Road and still ranks among the finest ancient ruins in the Middle East.
Mr Asaad worked with archaeological missions from the US, France, Germany and Switzerland on excavations at the 2,000-year-old UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Isis overran Palmyra and the neighbouring modern city of Tadmur in May this year.
The militant group was known to have destroyed relics it regarded as "idolatrous" in the past, and some of the city's smaller artefacts were moved to safety as government forces retreated.
It remains unclear how much damage has been done to the ruins since. Isis has previously said it will not destroy the overarching Roman structures - but in June it did blow up two ancient shrines in the city, not part of the Roman-era complex, which militants said were sacrilegious.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments