Islamic State beheads Syrian scholar
Corpse left hanging from column at site specialist spent his life preserving
DAMASCUS, SYRIA— Khaled Asaad, 81, was a bespectacled scholar who had devoted more than five decades of his life to preserving the ruins of Palmyra, a majestic 2,000-year-old city in the Syrian desert.
On Tuesday, he was beheaded by Islamic State extremists, his body left to hang from one of the stone columns in the ancient city’s central square, activist groups and officials told reporters, according to The Associated Press and Reuters.
Palmyra was captured by Islamic State this May, prompting fears that the jihadists would destroy the UNESCO world heritage site about 210 kilometres northeast of Damascus. The group has demolished ancient landmarks and looted cultural treasures throughout the swaths of Syria and Iraq under its control — experts say that pre-Islamic artifacts and symbols of multiculturalism are considered sacrilegious by the Islamic State’s puritanical interpretation of Islam.
In June, the militants blew up two of Palmyra’s ancient shrines that were not part of its Roman-era ruins, but there is no other evidence that the rest of the heritage site has been ransacked. Instead, the group’s violence in the area has been directed toward people, including the 82year-old Asaad.
The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told The Associated Press that Asaad was killed in a square outside the modern town’s museum. His body was then taken to the ruins of the ancient city.
“Just imagine that such a scholar who gave such memorable services to the place and to history would be beheaded . . . and his corpse still hanging from one of the ancient columns in the centre of a square in Palmyra,” Syrian state antiquities chief Maamoun Abdulkarim told Reuters. “The continued presence of these criminals in this city is a curse and bad omen on (Palmyra) and ev- ery column and every archeological piece in it.”
According to Abdulkarim, Asaad had been detained and interrogated by militants for more than a month before he was killed.
While Asaad was in captivity, the militants interrogated him in what might have been an effort to recover gold rumoured to have been buried in the ruins Abdulkarim said.
A Palmyra-based Syrian opposition activist who uses the name Khaled Homsi and who identified himself also as a nephew of Asaad, said Islamic State militants detained the scholar around three weeks ago. On Tuesday, they brought him in a van to a square packed with shoppers.
Amilitant then read out five alleged Islamic State charges against Asaad, including that he was the “director of idols,” represented Syria “at infidel conferences” and visited Shiite powerhouse Iran.
Then, another militant pulled out a knife, at which point Homsi said he left the square, unable to watch.
The Palmyra archeological site was Asaad’s life, said Homsi, adding that he fled the town later on Tuesday.
Asaad has authored scholarly works on Palmyra, where he served as head of antiquities. Abdulkarim told Reuters that he also worked with American, French, German and Swiss archeological missions to excavate and research the city’s ancient tombs and temples.
The Sunni extremist group, which has imposed a violent interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, believes ancient relics promote idolatry. Islamic State militants claim they are destroying ancient artifacts and archeological treasures as part of their purge of paganism. The destruction it has wreaked adds to the wider, extensive damage it has inflicted on ancient sites, including mosques and churches across Syria and Iraq. Syrian state news agency SANA said Asaad had been in charge of Palmyra’s archeological site for four decades until 2003, when he retired. After retiring, Asaad worked as an expert with the Antiquities and Museums Department.
Asaad, who held a diploma in history and education from the University of Damascus, wrote many books and scientific texts either individually or in co-operation 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.
“Asaad was a treasure for Syria and the world,” Khalil Hariri, Asaad’s son-in-law — who works at the Palmyra’s archeological department — told The Associated Press, speaking over the phone from the Syrian city of Homs. “Why did they kill him?
“Their systematic campaign seeks to take us back into prehistory,” he added. “But they will not succeed.”
Hariri, who is married to Asaad’s daughter, Zenobia, said his father-inlaw had been a member of President Bashar Assad’s ruling Baath Party since1954. Hariri added that Asaad is survived by six sons and five daughters.