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ByAlbertAji and Zeina Karam The Associated Press DAMASCUS, SYRIA Fears mounted over the fate of one of the Mideast's most prominent archaeologi- cal sites after Islamic State militants overran the his- toric Syrian desert town of Palmyra, seizing con- trol Thursday of its tem- ples, tombs and colonnades within hours. The takeover also ex- panded the extremists' hold, making them the sin- gle group controlling the most territory in Syria. "The Syrian regime ap- pears to be in terminal de- cline, and the Islamic State group in its timing is cap- italizing on recent losses by government forces in the north and south," said Amr Al-Azm, an antiqui- ties expert and professor at Shawnee State University in Ohio. The militants overran the famed archaeological site early Thursday, just hours after seizing the nearby town in central Syria, ac- tivists and officials said. They also captured Pal- myra's airport and the no- torious Tadmur prison, de- livering a startling new de- feat for President Bashar Assad, whose forces quickly retreated. Hundreds of Pal- myra residents fled the town of 65,000, and many more were trying to escape, said Talal Barazi, the gover- nor of central Homs prov- ince, which includes Pal- myra. An oasis set in the Syrian desert, Palmyra is a strate- gic crossroads linking the capital Damascus and cities to the east and the west. Its capture raised alarm over some of the world's most important ancient ruins, whose fate remained un- known Thursday, and no photos or video emerged from the militants. "We are in a state of an- ticipation and fear," said Maamoun Abdulkarim, the head of the Antiquities and Museum Department in Da- mascus. "The city is now to- tally controlled by gunmen and its destiny is dark and dim." A UNESCO world heri- tage site, Palymra boasts 2,000-year-old towering Roman-era colonnades, temples and priceless arti- facts that have earned it the affectionate name among Syrians of the "Bride of the Desert." They are the remnants of an Arab client state of the Roman Empire that briefly rebelled and carved out its own kingdom in the 3rd Century, led by Queen Ze- nobia, with Palmyra as its capital. Before the war, it was Syria's top tourist at- traction, drawing tens of thousands of visitors each year. It includes a 3,000-seat amphitheater overlooking a colonnaded main avenue where plays, concerts and youth festivals were staged. With the capture of Pal- myra, the Islamic State mil- itants now control half of Syria and most of the coun- try's oil wells, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, making it the group with the most territory under its author- ity among the myriad fac- tions fighting in the coun- try's civil war. Its vast terrain in- side Syria stretches from the group's westernmost strongholds in Aleppo prov- ince to its core territory in northeastern Syria down to central Syria, with foot- holds in Damascus. Palmyra's location in Syria's heartland offers the militants several impor- tant advantages, said Fay- sal Itani, a resident fel- low at the Atlantic Coun- cil. The town can now be used as a launching pad to threaten government posi- tions and supply lines south of Aleppo and east of Homs and Hama, and open up a new approach to Damascus, seat of Assad's power. IS can also threaten re- gime supply lines to the eastern city of Deir el-Zour, where government forces are still holding out against the militants. "If IS manages to cut off Deir el-Zour, it is likely that the city would fall, essen- tially ending regime pres- ence in that province, and consolidating IS' core terri- tory," he said. The fall of Palmyra fol- lows major setbacks for Assad in northern and southern Syria. "This is simply an indication of how overstretched the regime is," Itani said. The militants' capture of Palmyra came just days after Islamic State fighters seized the strategic Iraqi city of Ramadi, illustrating the extremists' ability to ad- vance on multiple fronts at opposite ends of a sprawl- ing battlefield that spans the two countries, where it has declared a caliphate or Islamic state on the terri- tory it controls. SYRIA Fears mount over Palmyra as IS expands territory SANA The general view of the ancient Roman city of Palmyra, northeast of Damascus, Syria, is seen. When Islamic State fighters routed Syrian government forces and took control of the ruins of Palmyra on Thursday morning, the ancient city became the latest archaeological heritage site to fall into the hands of the militant group. By David Espo and Charles Babington The Associated Press WASHINGTON In a tri- umph for President Barack Obama, sweeping legisla- tion to strengthen the ad- ministration's hand in global trade talks advanced toward Senate passage Thursday after a showdown vote that remained in doubt until the final moment. The 62-38 vote came from a solid phalanx of Re- publicans and more than a dozen Democrats. But the decisive thumbs-up came — literally, and long past the allotted time — from Dem- ocratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington after she and a few others seized the moment as leverage to de- mand a vote next month on legislation to renew the Ex- port-Import Bank. "It was a nice victory. We're going to continue and finish up the bill this week," Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Obama's most impor- tant Senate ally on the trade bill, said after sealing the agreement that Cantwell, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and others had sought. The Senate action to move toward a final vote was "a big step forward," Obama said at the White House, predicting that a trade deal would "open up access to markets that too often are closed." The pres- ident was up late Wednes- day night placing telephone calls to lawmakers, and he spoke with Cantwell again shortly before the vote. Final Senate passage would clear the way for a fierce struggle in the House. The legislation would al- low Obama to make trade deals that Congress could either support or reject but not change. Previous presidents have had simi- lar authority, and adminis- tration officials argue that Japan and other Pacific-re- gion countries in a current round of 12-nation trade talks will be unwilling to present bottom-line offers if they know lawmakers can seek more concessions. But the real political di- vide is over the value of in- ternational trade agree- ments themselves, and the result has been a blurring of traditional political lines. Supporters say such agreements benefit the American economy by low- ering barriers overseas and expanding markets for U.S. services and goods. But in rebuttal that be- came particularly pro- nounced two decades ago when President Bill Clin- ton sought and won a North American Free Trade Agreement, labor unions and Democratic allies in Congress argue the deals cost jobs at home and send them to nations with lax environmental and safety standards and low wages. The trade measure is one of three major bills pending in the Senate as lawmakers look toward a weeklong Me- morial Day recess set to be- gin at week's end. WASHINGTON Obama's sweeping trade bill narrowly clears a key hurdle in Senate For ads starting May 30 or earlier! ONLYavailablebyphonetoour Nor-Cal Classified Call Center 1-800-855-667-2255 JustaskforNo-ClipCouponpricing! CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS ONLY! Sorry, no refunds for early ad cancellation at this pricing! 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