Saudi FM calls Indian, Pakistani counterparts to discuss developments    Al Hilal thrash Gwangju to reach AFC Champions League Elite semi-finals    Saudi Arabia cracks down on fraudulent Hajj campaigns, urges pilgrims to use official channels    Nammos Amala Resort to open soon with Saudi-Greek designs    Saudi Arabia completes 674 Vision 2030 initiatives, achieves 93% of KPIs as ninth-year milestone marked    Literature Commission inaugurates Saudi Pavilion at Muscat Book Fair    Saudi Minister of Culture holds talks with his Costa Rican counterpart in Jeddah    Alkhorayef praises advancements in Al-Kharj food industries sector    MHRSD: 80% of recruitment offices are non-compliant with regulations    At least 50 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza    Teenage girl killed in French school stabbing attack    Trump claims meeting with China after Beijing denies any trade negotiations    GACA chief chairs 16th meeting of the Steering Committee on aviation's strategy    Saudi Theater Commission launches its Work and Learn Project in UK    The season has begun — and one comment shook us all    Jennifer Lopez dazzles in Jeddah with a Formula 1 performance    Saudi Arabia open to expanded 64-team World Cup in 2034, says sports minister    Average life expectancy in Saudi Arabia rises to78.8 years    Film Commission launches 'Cinema' initiative to enhance content    Famed Philippine film star Nora Aunor dies at 71    Pakistani star's Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right    Veteran Bollywood actor Manoj Kumar dies at 87    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



UNESCO chief: Daesh systematically destroying heritage sites
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 25 - 08 - 2015

This Oct. 26, 2014 satellite image provided by UNESCO shows levees and roads dug across the Northern Necropolis at Palmyra, Syria. The Daesh fighters overran the historic town of Palmyra in May 2015. On Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2015, famed Palmyra expert Khaled Al-Asaad was publicly beheaded by the Daesh militants, his bloodied body hung on a pole in a main square, according to witnesses and relatives. — AP


DAMASCUS — The Daesh (the so-called IS) extremists in Syria and Iraq are engaged in the “most brutal, systematic” destruction of ancient sites since World War II, the head of the UN cultural agency said — a stark warning that came hours after militants demolished a monastery with ancient foundations in central Syria.
The world's only recourse is to try to prevent the sale of looted artifacts, thus cutting off a lucrative stream of income for the militants, UNESCO chief Irina Bokova told The Associated Press.
Recent attacks have stoked fears that Daesh is accelerating its campaign to demolish and loot heritage sites. On Friday, witnesses said the militants bulldozed St. Elian Monastery which houses a 5th century tomb and served as a major pilgrimage site.
Days earlier, Daesh beheaded an 81-year-old antiquities scholar who had dedicated his life to overseeing the ruins of Palmyra in Syria, one of the Middle East's most spectacular archaeological sites.
Since capturing about a third of Syria and Iraq last year, the Daesh fighters have destroyed mosques, churches and archaeological sites, causing extensive damage to the ancient cities of Nimrud, Hatra and Dura Europos in Iraq.
In May, they seized Palmyra, the Roman-era city on the edge of a modern town of the same name. “We haven't seen something similar since the Second World War,” Bokova said of the scope of the Daesh campaign against ancient sites.
“I think this is the biggest attempt, the most brutal systematic destruction of world heritage.” Bokova said recent images of archaeological sites under IS control in Iraq and Syria show signs of widespread illegal digging and looting.
“If you look at the maps, the photos, the satellite pictures of it, you will not recognize one place,” she said. “It is just hundreds of holes all around them.”
There is very little the world can do to stop the extremists from inflicting more damage, she said, but stopping the trafficking in artifacts must be a priority.
Bokova spoke hours after Daesh posted photos on social media showing bulldozers destroying the St. Elian Monastery near the town of Qaryatain in central Syria.
The group had captured the town in early August. A Qaryatain resident who recently fled to Damascus said militants leveled the shrine and removed church bells.
The man, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear his relatives still in Qaryatain might be harmed, called on the United Nations to protect Christians and Christian sites.
Osama Edward, the director of the Christian Assyrian Human Rights Network, said shelling of the area by Syrian government troops over the past two weeks had already damaged the monastery.
“Daesh continued the destruction of the monastery,” said Edward, using an Arabic acronym for the Daesh group.
A Catholic priest, the Rev. Jacques Mourad, who had lived at the monastery, was kidnapped in May and remains missing. According to Edward, Mourad sheltered both Muslim and Christian Syrians fleeing the fighting elsewhere in Homs province.
Activists said that shortly after capturing Qaryatain, the Daesh group abducted 230 residents, including dozens of Christians.
Activists said some Christians were released, but the fate of the others is still unknown. Bokova said in a statement that “the intentional targeting and systematic destruction of the cultural heritage of Syria is reaching unprecedented levels” and that the militants' campaign “testifies of an ideology of hatred and exclusion.”
In another attack, IS militants beheaded Palmyra scholar Khaled Al-Asaad on Tuesday, hanging his bloodied body from a pole in the town's main square.
Al-Asaad, a long-time site director, had refused to leave Palmyra after it was overrun by IS. — AP


Clic here to read the story from its source.