- Title: ETHIOPIA/ITALY :FEATURE - AXUM OBELISK TO BE RESTORED AFTER 6O YEARS
- Date: 10th March 1996
- Summary: AXUM AND ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA/ ROME, ITALY (RECENT) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) AXUM 1. PAN ACROSS CITY 2. ANCIENT OBELISKS IN PARK 3. TOURISTS 4. RETIRED TOUR GUIDE BERHANE MESKAL ZELELO WALKING AMONG OBELISKS 5. INSCRIPTION WHERE MISSING OBELISK ONCE STOOD 6. OBELISKS IN DISTANCE 7. BERHANE MESKAL ZELELO SEATED 8. ZELELO SAYING I AM IN A HURRY TO SEE I BROUGHT BACK. I WOULD LIKE TO SEE IT IN MY LIFE. I WANT IT TO COME NEXT YEAR. I AM SURE I WILL SEE IT. WE WANT THEM TO TO BE AS THEY WERE ORIGINALLY, STANDING. THEY WERE THE BEAUTY OF AXUM, OF THE ANCIENT OLD CITY OF ETHIOPIA (ENGLISH) 9. CARVING ON REMAINING STANDING OBELISK 10. REMAINS OF FALLEN OBELISK 11. DONKEY IN STREET 12. ORTHODOX CHURCH 13. HEAD OF ETHIOPIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH IN AXUM, NURBURAED BELAY, SPEAKING (LOCAL DIALECT) ADDIS ABABA 14. MEMBERS OF "RETURN OUR OBELISK" COMMITTEE LOOKING AT NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS 15. RICHARD PANKHURST OF "RETURN OUR OBELISK" COMMITTEE HOLDING PROTEST PLACARDS 16. PANKHURST SAYING ITALY IN THE PEACE TREATY OF 1947 WITH THE UNITED NATIONS ENTERED INTO A SOLEMN OBLIGATION TO RETURN ALL LOOT WITHIN 18 MONTHS. WE FEEL ITS A SCANDAL AND A DISGRACE THAT 50 YEARS LATER THAT OBLIGATION HAS NOT YET BEEN HONOURED (ENGLISH) 17. SIGNATURES ON PETITION 18. PANKHURST SAYING WE FEEL THAT THE STRUGGLE FOR THE RETURN OF THE OBELISK IS A STRUGGLE FOR THE INTEGRITY OF ETHIOPIAN CULTURE. WE DON'T BELIEVE THAT ANY FOREIGNER CAN COME ALONG, INVADE A COUNTRY LIKE ETHIOPIA AND TAKE AWAY ITS CULTURAL HERITAGE (ENGLISH) ROME 19. "STOLEN" OBELISK IN STREET 20. CLOSEUP OF OBELISK/ DETAIL 21. ITALIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER RINO SERRI, ITALIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER SAYING WE, THE ITALIAN GOVERNMENT, DON'T WANT TO MAKE THIS A QUESTION OF PRINCIPLE WHEREBY ALL THE WORKS OF ART HAVE TO BE RETURNED. NO, WE ARE PURELY RESPECTING THE TREATY THAT WE HAVE SIGNED (ITALIAN) 22. OBELISK IN STREET ADDIS ABABA 23. MELES ZENAWI, ETHIOPIAN PRIME MINISTER, SAYING THIS OBELISK HAS BEEN AN IRRITANT FOR A VERY LONG TIME AND REMOVING THIS IRRITANT WOULD, I THINK, MAKE RELATIONS BETWEEN ETHIOPIA AND ITALY BETTER (ENGLISH) AXUM 24. OBELISK IN PARK NOTE NARRATION VERSION AT 01. 06.50 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
- Embargoed: 25th March 1996 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: AXUM AND ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA/ ROME, ITALY
- City:
- Country: EUROPE AFRICA Italy Ethiopia
- Reuters ID: LVA2X9YBEJD1KAZHCFOOYGQ4W331
- Story Text: INTRO: Part of Ethiopia's ancient history will soon be on its way home from Rome thanks to a new agreement with the Italian government. A magnificent obelisk looted by Mussolini's invading army sixty years ago will be restored to its proper place in the old city of Axum.
Reuters Television's Goolnar Bradbury reports.
------------------------------------------------------------ Dating back to around the 3rd century BC, the ancient city of Axum is one of Ethiopia's most prized tourist attractions.
It's best known for its obelisks which stand just north of its town square. Seventy-two year old Berhane Meskal Zelelo has lived in Axum all his life and was a tour guide there for 37 years.
He loves his city; but one thing upsets him... one of its famous obelisks is missing. A simple plaque marks the spot where the second tallest obelisk once stood.
It was looted by Mussolini's invading Italian army in 1937 and taken to Rome when Berhane was just a boy. It's his greatest wish to see it returned before he dies.
-------------------------------------------------------------------- CAPTION: BERHANE MESKAL ZELELO, RETIRED TOUR GUIDE "I am in a hurry to see it brought back. I like to see it in my life. I want it to come next year. I am sure I will see it. "We want them to be as they were originally, standing. They were the beauty of Axum, of the ancient old city of Ethiopia, Axum." (ENGLISH) -------------------------- The stolen obelisk was one of three at Axum decorated with fine and detailed carving. Today only one of the trio remains standing - the tallest fell at an unknown time in the past.
The obelisks were carved between the 2nd and 4th century AD - when Axum was the capital of a far reaching kingdom stretching as far as Yemen across the Red Sea.
Though its era of power and influence is long past, present day Axum retains its position as the centre of Ethiopian Christianity.
For Nuburaed Belay, head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Chrurch there, it's vital the stolen obelisk is returned.
-------------------- CAPTION: NUBURAED BELAY, HEAD OF ETHIOPIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH IN AXUM The Obelisk that was taken by the Italians has a history of its own. So if it comes back, the obelisks have more history. Not just me, but all the Axumite people, all Ethopians, are eager to see it return." (LOCAL DIALECT) -------------------- From his home in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, Historian Richard Pankhurst is co-ordinating the campaign for the obelisk's return. It's one of numerous treasures looted from Ethiopia during colonial times.
But unlike many of the others, its return is not just a moral issue. It's also the subject of an international treaty.
--------------------- CAPTION: RICHARD PANKHURST, "RETURN OUR OBELISK" COMMITTEE "Italy in the peace treaty of 1947 with the United Nations, entered into a solemn obligation to return all loot within 18 months. We feel it's a scandal and a disgrace that 50 years later that obligation has not yet been honoured." (ENGLISH) --------------------- Last year the campaigners presented a 14,000 signature petition to the Italian parliament.
------------------ CAPTION: RICHARD PANKHURST "We feel that the struggle for the return of the Obelisk is a struggle for the integrity of Ethiopian culture. We don't believe that any foreigner can come along, invade a country like Ethiopia and take away its cultural heritage." (ENGLISH) ------------------- The stolen obelisk now stands 4,500 km away in the Italian capital - on the site of the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organisation.
In the past Italy has ignored pleas for its return. But, finally, at the end of last year, the government gave a pledge that it would go home.
They're keen to stress, however, that the obelisk is a special case.
----------------------- CAPTION: RINO SERRI, ITALIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER "We, the Italian government don't want to make this a question of principle whereby all the works of art have to be returned. No, we are purely respecting the treaty that we have signed." (ITALIAN) ------------------------ The hope is that the return of the obelisk will put the seal on a harmonious new relationship between Italy and Ethiopia.
------------------------ CAPTION: MELES ZENAWI, ETHIOPIAN PRIME MINISTER "This obelisk has been an irritant for a very long time and removing this irritant would, I think, make relations between Ethiopia and Italy better." (ENGLISH) ------------------------ But Ethiopians aren't celebrating just yet. Having waited half a century, the news of the obelisk's return is being received with cautious optimism.
But for Berhane at least, the dream of seeing it back in Axum has moved a step closer.
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