[CPProt.net] FW: Ethiopia Angry Over Postponement of Axum Obelisk's Return

[Museum Security Network / Cultural Property Protection Net (Ton Cremers)]

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Van: shlomo at eastafricaforum.net [mailto:shlomo at eastafricaforum.net] 
Verzonden: woensdag 13 april 2005 0:00
Aan: shlomo at eastafricaforum.net
Onderwerp: Ethiopia Angry Over Postponement of Axum Obelisk's Return


http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-04-12-voa28.cfm
 
Ethiopia Angry Over Postponement of Axum Obelisk's Return	
By  Alisha Ryu 
Nairobi
12 April 2005
		
 
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Axum belisk
<http://www.voanews.com/english/images/ap_axum_obelisk_210_eng_8apr05_1.jpg>

Axum obelisk 	
Ethiopians say they are shocked and dismayed that the return of their famed
Axum obelisk from Italy has once again been postponed. Italy, which took the
ancient monument from Ethiopia as a prize of conquest nearly 70 years ago,
was supposed to begin delivering the obelisk in sections, starting
Wednesday. 

A historian at the Addis Ababa University, Richard Pankhurst, says
Ethiopians are outraged by what they see as yet another attempt by the
Italian government to delay the return of the obelisk to its rightful
owners.

Mr. Pankhurst says the people most angered by the delay are the residents of
the ancient northern city of Axum, where the 24-meter-high stone pillar was
first erected more than 1,700 years ago.

"The people are desolate," he said. "The children had all been rehearsing
their celebration, and the news that it was not going to be carried out
according to plan has shocked the people of Axum. The Axum obelisk goes back
to the very beginning of Ethiopian history, and it is shocking that Italy
has failed to honor its obligations for so long."

In 1947, 10 years after Italy's fascist dictator Benito Mussolini took the
obelisk to Rome during the country's brief occupation of Ethiopia, Italy
signed a pledge to return the monument.

Italy's failure to act became a major source of political tension between
the two nations, until last year, when during a state visit by Ethiopian
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi Rome again promised to give back the obelisk. 

The date of the monument's return was first set for the end of last month.
Because of its size and weight, the 160-metric-ton obelisk had to be broken
into three sections, and Italy agreed to deliver it piece-by-piece by cargo
plane over a 10-day period. The pillar would be put back together at its
original site in Axum. 

But Rome pushed back the return date to April 11 and then to April 13.

On Monday, the Italian Culture Ministry said that the first section could
not be delivered on time, partly because the airport in Axum does not have a
radar to ensure a safe landing for the cargo plane. The ministry says pilots
are now waiting for clear weather in the area.

Mr. Pankhurst at the Addis Ababa University says Ethiopians are fast running
out of patience.

"Each year, we have had excuse after excuse; that the obelisk is too heavy,
that the Ethiopians cannot look after it, that it is better in Italy, and so
forth," he said. "I would say the return of the obelisk is needed for three
reasons. Firstly, because it is a historic artifact of great importance to
Ethiopian history and culture; secondly, the keeping of the obelisk in Rome
is the perpetuation of Mussolini's desire to loot Ethiopia; and thirdly, the
return of the obelisk, if and when it returns, means a return to
international legality, which has been denied by the Italian government for
so long."

The obelisk is one of the largest of more than 100 stone monoliths, which
were erected in the Third and Fourth centuries, A.D. as funerary markers for
members of the aristocracy in Axum.

At the time, Axum was the capital of a mighty kingdom, rivaling Rome, China,
and Persia in wealth and prestige.