Italy to return obelisk from Queen of Sheba's city  Â

The Italian government has caved in to Ethiopia's increasingly urgent demands for the return of a historic obelisk in hopes of ending a dispute that has poisoned relations for decades.

The Axum obelisk has graced a square in central Rome ever since it was stolen from Ethiopia in 1937 by Mussolini during Italy's brief occupation before the Second World War.

But despite signing bilateral agreements promising to return the 3,000-year old granite monument, the Italian government showed no signs of doing so until the obelisk was badly damaged by lightning in a thunderstorm in May.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's colourful junior culture minister, Vittorio Sgarbi, caused a storm himself last year by saying that the obelisk was now an Italian "naturalised citizen" and should stay where it was.

After the lightning strike, he seemed to change his mind, saying: "since it has already been damaged we might as well give it back."

The incident enraged Ethiopia, which accused Italy of failing to properly protect the obelisk. The thunderstorm smashed the top of the 82-foot high structure, causing stone pieces to crash to the ground.

Mr Sgarbi had, as recently as last January, contended that Italy should not give the obelisk back as it would be returning to a "war zone" where it risked destruction. He expressed fears that the Ethiopian government would not be able to protect and restore the monument. However Ethiopia was having none of it. It galvanised African opinion behind its position at last week's founding conference of the successor organisation to the Organisation of African Unity, the African Union.

Richard Pankhurst, the most prominent expert on Ethiopian archaeology, told the BBC last week that the Italian position was "a disgrace."

"One feels that the European Union has a rogue state in its midst," said Professor Pankhurst, who teaches at Addis Ababa university.

Yesterday, the Italian government sought to put an end to the festering dispute by announcing after a cabinet meeting that it had started procedures to return the obelisk – stolen from the ancient holy city of Axum.

Detailed plans for the journey have already been worked out, including the transfer of the monument in parts on American transport planes.

Axum was once the capital of an empire ruled by the Queen of Sheba. Her successors left grand monuments over their burial sites, and it was the grandest of these that Mussolini stole to give his empire some of the feel of the original Roman Empire.

* Pope John Paul added his voice to the growing outrage yesterday over the desecration of at least 50 graves at a Jewish cemetery in Rome. Police admitted they had no clear lead as to who was behind the desecration, which took place in the early hours of Thursday and led to fears of an increase in anti-Semitism.