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		</div><p><span style="color:#300707;"><strong><span style="font-size:x-large;"><i>There were huge concerns that the 4,000-year-old historic monuments would have been demolished<br />
However, new drone footage reveals a surprising amount of the temple site appears to remain intact<br />
Syrian government struck a secret deal with ISIS to &#8216;convince&#8217; them not to destroy all of the city&#8217;s ancient landmarks</i> </span></strong></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size:small;"><b>The Temple of Bel is pictured, left, in September last year prior to being blown up by ISIS terrorists and, right, after the city was reclaimed by Assad&#8217;s forces</b></span></p>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:small;">The majority of Palmyra&#8217;s ancient treasures held by ISIS have been preserved because of a secret deal between the Syrian government and the terror group, a minister has revealed.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:small;">Syria&#8217;s antiquities chief Maamoun Abdulkarim said behind-the-scenes work took place to &#8216;convince&#8217; ISIS not to destroy all the city&#8217;s key archaeological features.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:small;">Extremists wrecked a number of important structures on the site, including the Temple of Baal, leaving experts with a difficult task of re-constructing the ancient landmarks.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:small;">But Abdulkarim said the deal with ISIS had prevented the whole city from being razed. </span></div>
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<div class="imageCaption"><span style="font-size:small;"><b>Pictures show how the Arc de Triomphe looked in June 2010 (left) before ISIS descended on Palmyra and destroyed some of the structure (right)</b></span></div>
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<div class="imageCaption"><span style="font-size:small;"><b>During its rule of Palmyra, IS killed scores of people and destroyed invaluable artifacts dating back more than 1,800 years, along with a famed Roman triumphal archway</b></span></div>
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<div class="imageCaption"><span style="font-size:x-small;"><b>IS had used Palmyra&#8217;s ancient theatre as a venue for public executions and also murdered the city&#8217;s 82-year-old former antiquities chief </b></span></div>
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<div class="imageCaption"><span style="font-size:small;"><b>Russian forces, which intervened in support of longtime ally Assad last September, were heavily involved in the Palmyra offensive despite a major draw down last week</b></span></div>
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<div class="imageCaption"><span style="font-size:small;"><b>The damage within the hugely significant historical landscape was predicted to be massive following brutal combat exchanges between the extremist group and the regime</b></span></div>
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<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:small;">&#8216;We were working with 45 to 50 people inside the city in order to convince Daesh, with public pressure, not to destroy everything,&#8217; he said, using another name for ISIS. </span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:small;">&#8216;Daesh saw that there would be a popular uprising against it if it destroyed everything. It didn&#8217;t steal and it didn&#8217;t destroy everything,&#8217; he said.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:small;">It comes as extraordinary new drone footage revealed the extent of the devastation wrecked by the jihadi group after they captured Palmyra last summer. </span></div>
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<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:small;">Despite the damage, Syria&#8217;s antiquities chief believes the ancient site of Palmyra could be fully restored to its former glory in five years after Syrian government forces re-captured the ISIS-held site.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:small;">&#8216;We were expecting the worst. But the landscape, in general, is in good shape. &#8216;We could have completely lost Palmyra. The joy I feel is indescribable.,&#8217; .</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:small;">&#8216;If we have UNESCO&#8217;s approval, we will need five years to restore the structures damaged or destroyed by IS,&#8217; he said.<span class="mol-style-bold"> </span></span></div>
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<div class="image-wrap fff-pic" style="cursor:pointer;"><span style="font-size:small;">Historian of the ancient world Maurice Sartre said: &#8216;One mustn&#8217;t forget that only around 15 to 20 per cent of Palmyra had actually been excavated, and so there was an enormous amount yet to discover. </span></div>
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<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:small;">&#8216;All the tombs we hadn&#8217;t excavated and have now been totally pillaged are lost to science forever.&#8217;</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:small;">ISIS had used Palmyra&#8217;s ancient theatre as a venue for public executions and also murdered the city&#8217;s 82-year-old former antiquities chief.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:small;">The Syrian army said the city would now serve as a base to &#8216;broaden operations&#8217; against IS, including in its stronghold of Raqqa and Deir Ezzor further east.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:small;">At least 400 ISIS fighters were killed in the battle for the city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:small;">On the government side, 188 troops and militiamen were killed.</span></div>
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<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:small;">Assad said the victory was &#8216;fresh proof of the efficiency of the Syrian army and its allies in fighting terrorism&#8217;.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:small;">IS and its jihadist rival, the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra Front, are not party to a ceasefire in force across Syria since February 27.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:small;">The truce has brought relative quiet to many areas across Syria, where more than 270,000 have been killed and millions had fled their homes in the last five years.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:small;">The Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday that 363 civilians had been killed since the truce went into effect &#8211; the lowest monthly toll in four years. </span></div>
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Preserving historic artifacts: Syria struck secret deal with ISIS to preserve majority of Palmyra treasures, minister reveals… as images highlight the destruction caused by the fanatics
