ISIS executes leading antiquities scholar in Palmyra

Khaled al-Asaad, the 81-year-old scholar of antiquities in charge of overseeing Syria’s ancient ruins of Palmyra, was executed by ISIS on Wednesday. This reportedly took place after he refused to tell the militants where authorities had hidden the relics they removed from the city before the ruins were captured last spring. Al-Asaad’s colleagues say he was central in the effort to relocate the contents of the Palmyra museum to protect them from ISIS. ISIS considers the ancient artifacts as promoting idolatry, but they are also believed to profit from selling them. The charges against Al-Asaad included acting as a “director of idols”, visiting Iran, and representing Syria at “infidel conferences”. He is remembered as a formidable scholar and devotee of Palmyra.