Syrians back to famed Palmyra ruins

PALMYRA

Syrians are once again picnicking and smoking shisha amid the ruins of ancient Palmyra, once desecrated by jihadists but still awe-inspiring, and open to the public following the overthrow of president Bashar al-Assad.

The city's renowned ruins, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, were twice overrun by the ISIL terrorist organization, which proceeded to destroy many of the most famed structures.

Although they were driven out, the Syrian government and its allies, including Russia and Iran, then set up military bases nearby, effectively barring public access.

Open to the public once more, Yasser al-Mahmoud, 54, was among dozens of formerly displaced Syrians rediscovering the beloved landmarks that still bear scars of war.

"We used to come here every Friday, before" the war, Mahmoud said, pouring hot tea into glass cups placed atop a massive column's stone base. "Now we're back and we can reconnect with our memories," he said, standing near his wife and children. "People are so happy," he said.

Spread out across the ruins, families were carrying bags of food and making tea, while young people smoked shisha.

"We really missed the ruins. We haven't been here since 2015," when ISIL first invaded the area before being forced out for good in 2017.

Mahmoud said he wanted to reopen his stall selling trinkets and jewelry once visitors returned to Palmyra, which attracted more than 150,000 tourists a year before civil war broke out in 2011.

Known to Syrians as the "Pearl of the Desert," Palmyra was home to some of the best-preserved classical monuments in the Middle East before Syria's 13-year war.

But ISIL launched a campaign of destruction after capturing Palmyra, using its ancient theatre as a venue for public executions and murdering its 82-year-old former antiquities chief.

The jihadists blew up the shrine of Baal Shamin, destroyed the Temple of Bel, dynamited the Arch of Triumph, looted the museum and defaced statues and sarcophagi.

While the are gone, danger still looms over Palmyra.

The director general of antiquities and museums in Syria, Nazir Awad, told AFP he was concerned about illegal excavation.

There are guards, he said, "but I don't think they can do their work to the fullest extent, because of random and barbaric excavations across very wide areas."

People looking for ancient artifacts to loot are using heavy machinery and metal detectors that are "destructive," adding that the digging was "destroying layers of archaeological sites, leaving nothing behind."