Isis executes Palmyra antiquities chief: Defender of ancient city's past was killed for protecting its future
![](http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/article10461579.ece/alternates/w100/v2-palmyra-khaled-asaad-getty-full-width.jpg)
Isis has killed “the guardian of Palmyra”. Tortured for a month and then beheaded for refusing to betray the secret location of the Roman’s city’s priceless artefacts, Khaled al-Asaad’s gruesome death has appalled his fellow archeologists.