ISIS beheads 82yo caretaker of ancient treasures

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Ben Hubbard

A 2002 picture of Khaled al-Asaad in front of a rare sarcophagus from Palmyra

SYRIA---For decades, he was the bespectacled caretaker of some of Syria’s greatest archaeological treasures. Now, months after his home fell to the jihadists of the Islamic State, Khalid al-Asaad, the retired chief of antiquities for Palmyra, has fallen, too. After detaining him for weeks, the jihadists dragged him on Tuesday to a public square where a masked swordsman cut off his head in front of a crowd, Mr. Asaad’s relatives said. [link]