No Hard Feelings But No Obelisk Either

Ethiopia's Emperor Haile Selassie was a monarch of only 43 when his proud East African kingdom suffered one of the great outrages of the 20th century. While the League of Nations sat mute in Geneva in 1936, Italian troops overran the land and Benito Mussolini appeared on a Rome balcony to boast: "At last Italy has its empire!"

Ethiopia paid a high price for Il Duce's Caesarean pretensions. By the time British troops crushed the Italian invaders in 1941, 760,000 Ethiopians had been killed. Even so, Selassie ordered his people to treat the defeated Italians with "a sense of honor and a human heart."

For years, Rome has been urging Selassie to pay a reconciliatory visit, but he has always demurred. One reason for his hesitancy was an 83-ft. stone obelisk that now stands in front of the headquarters of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization. Italian troops stole the obelisk from the ancient Ethiopian capital at Aksum, and Mussolini had it set up in Rome. Ethiopians want it back, but the Italians have maintained that the shaft is too weak to be moved. Moreover, neo-Fascist extremists would probably raise a ruckus if Il Duce's trophy were taken away.

In the end, there was nothing Selassie could do but show his sense of honor once more. Still erect at 78, the old Lion of Judah finally arrived in Rome last week for a nine-day visit marking the symbolic reconciliation of the two countries. No more hard feelings --but no obelisk either. So far, Rome has made no move to return the pillar, and the only compensation the King of Kings seems likely to get was the state banquet and immense reception held in his honor at the Quirinale Palace.

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