Syrian antiquities chief condemns IS beheading of archaeologist in Palmyra

General Director of Syrian Antiquities and Museums Mamoun Abdulkarim condemned the killing of a prominent Syrian archaeologist in Syria's Palmyra city, deeming the incident as a crime committed by medieval terrorism.

The Islamic State (IS) militants on Tuesday killed Khaled al-Asaad, a prominent archaeologist in the millennia-old oasis city of Palmyra in central Syria, beheading him and hanging his body on one of the old Roman columns in that city, which was stormed by the terror-labeled group last May.

"It's a heinous, terrorist and criminal act against a historic figure deemed as one of the best pioneers in the Syrian archaeology, who had great achievements in the archaeological excavations and restoration process. He gave Palmyra an international stature," Abdulkarim told Xinhua in an interview Wednesday.

"The execution of such a scholar by hanging his body on a column represents one of the highest levels of criminality and barbarism in the 21st century. I cannot imagine any worse than this incident," Abdulkarim added.

The general director said the IS militants had tried to take information out of the 81-year-old scholar about the locations of the historic treasures of Palmyra before killing him, saying that such question represents "foolishness' of the IS militants because they are basing their questions and interrogations on "assumptions."

The IS killed him because "they deemed him as a servant of the idols and protector of the pagan religions. So we are in the face of two mentalities: the first is the civilized and contemporary one and the second is the mentality of the medieval and ancient ages."

After failing to extract any information, the IS "barbarically" beheaded Asaad, who was also the former manager of Palmyra's antiquities.

He said he had repeatedly asked Asaad to leave Palmyra after the IS attack, but "he refused to leave his city and his hometown even if he had to die."

"I begged him to leave the city. He chose to remain in Palmyra with his son, who suffers from an illness that doesn't allow him to move fast. He told me that he was born in Palmyra and he would die there," Abdulkarim said.

Throughout the crisis, 15 archaeology workers were killed in different ways and circumstances, he said.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the IS beheaded the scholar with a knife at a square in Palmyra, with tens of people watching his execution.

The UK-based watchdog group said the scholar was abducted by the terror-labeled group last month.

The IS stormed Palmyra and its ancient part last May, prompting the Syrian troops to wage a counter offensive for the recapture of that city.

Palmyra contains the monumental ruins of a great city that was one of the most important cultural centers of the ancient world.

After storming Palmyra, the IS militants blew up the city's military prison and several Islamic tombs.

Syria has many prehistoric, Greek, Byzantine and Islamic heritages. Before the crisis, Syria had attracted many multinational archaeological missions coming for searching new clues of historical facts on the development of civilizations.

The UNESCO has listed six Syrian sites on the World Heritage List, including the old cities of Damascus and Aleppo, al-Madhiq castle, the Krak des Chevaliers, the ancient city of Bosra and Palmyra and the ancient villages in northern Syria. Endit