’ISIL’ Beheads Elderly Ex-antiquities Chief in Syria’s Palmyra

Local Editor

The "ISIL" terrorist group beheaded the 82-year-old former antiquities director for the ancient city of Palmyra, Syria's antiquities chief and a monitor said.

Photos purporting to show Khaled al-Assaad's body tied to a post in Palmyra were circulated online.

Syria's antiquities Chief Maamoun Abdelkarim told AFP that Assaad was executed by the terrorist group on Tuesday afternoon in Palmyra, in central Homs province.

"Daesh has executed one of Syria's most important antiquities experts," Abdelkarim said.

"He was the head of antiquities in Palmyra for 50 years and had been retired for 13 years... He was 82 years old," he added.

Abdelkarim said the former antiquities official's body had been hung in the ancient ruins in Palmyra after being beheaded.

But the photo circulating online showed a body on a median strip of a main road, tied to what appeared to be a lamp post.

A sign attached to the body identified it as that of Assaad.

It also claimed he had been in contact with regime officials.
Abdelkarim said Assaad had been detained by the "ISIL" militants a month earlier and that they were looking for "stores of gold" in the city.

"I deny wholeheartedly that these stores exist," he said.

"ISIL" captured Palmyra, a renowned UNESCO World Heritage site, from government forces on May 21, prompting international concerns about the fate of the city's antiquities.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team