This is a truly astonishing story. If it is true that this scholar was targeted for death because he was a serious opponent of antiquities theft, a major threshold has been crossed. The immediate capture, trial and punishment of the criminals involved is absolutely necessary and one would hope all professional societies would speak out in the strongest terms. This is certainly an incident where one would hope the major investigative forces in the world, U.S., British, French, German, would be asked for assistance.

Murder on the Orient Express, in reverse, if they were only trying to kill the one man and got eight more by unhappy chance. (I read somewhere that another person's remains had been found)

Murder is murder...and mass murder is mass murder. Why would the murder of a famous archaeologist be any more heinous and deserving of immediate reprisal than the murders of say, nine other unarmed civilians together, anywhere in the same country? Because it's a thought crime? A hate crime?? Because others planning the murder of famous archaeologists who stand in their way will be encouraged?

Sorry, It should receive the proper investigative attention that any mass murder/arson case should have, regardless of who the victims were...no threshold has been crossed more important than the murder by arson of nine human beings, which is certainly bad enough.