UNESCO condemns 'horrific' IS beheading of Palmyra archaeologist

Islamic State militants have beheaded a prominent archaeologist in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra after he reportedly refused to tell the group where artefacts were hidden.

Khaled al-Asaad, speaks in Syria. (AAP) Source: SANA

The beheading of Syrian archaeologist Khaled al-Asaad has been condemned as a "horrific act" by UNESCO, the UN's cultural organisation.

Syrian state antiquities chief Maamoun Abdulkarim said Mr Asaad’s family had informed him that the 82-year-old scholar, who worked for more than 50 years as head of antiquities in Palmyra, had been executed by Islamic State on Tuesday. 

Before the city's capture by Islamic State, Syrian officials said they moved hundreds of ancient statues to safe locations out of concern they would be destroyed by the militants.

Mr Asaad had been held captive by the group for more than a month was reportedly interrogated about where the treasures had been stored. When he refused to tell the group, he was killed.

Since his death, photos have reportedly circulated on social media showing Mr Assad's body tied to a lamp post in the main square with his severed head nearby.

UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova condemned the killing, saying the group "killed him because he would not betray his deep commitment to Palmyra."

Mr Abdulkarim said it was a terrible end for such an important figure.

"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," he said.

"The continued presence of these criminals in this city is a curse and bad omen on [Palmyra] and every column and every archaeological piece in it."

IS, whose insurgents control swathes of Syria and Iraq, captured Palmyra in central Syria from government forces in May, but are not known to have damaged its monumental Roman-era ruins despite their reputation for destroying artefacts they view as idolatrous under their puritanical interpretation of Islam.

However in June, Islamic State did blow up two ancient shrines in Palmyra that were not part of its Roman-era structures but which the militants regarded as pagan and sacrilegious.

Mr Asaad, who was born in Palmyra, was known for several scholarly works published in international archaeological journals on Palmyra, which in antiquity flourished as an important trading hub along the Silk Road.

He also worked over the past few decades with U.S., French, German and Swiss archaeological missions on excavations and research in Palmyra's famed 2,000-year-old ruins, a UNESCO World Heritage Site including Roman tombs and the Temple of Bel.