UNESCO officials said here Tuesday the reerection of the ancient Axum obelisk will be finalized late this year.

"Provided that all logistical and technical requirements are met, the operation will be finalized towards the end of 2006," said Francesco Bandarin, director of the World Heritage Center of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

"Together with the Ethiopian and Italian authorities, UNESCO is currently completing the administrative, legal and technical preparation in order to start the operations in March/April 2006," he told a press conference.

According to Bandarin, the cost of the reerection project is 4 million U.S. dollars.

Meanwhile, at the press conference, Giorgio Croci, UNESCO expert responsible for engineering operations, said the construction of the foundation and the embankment is due to be completed before the end of the Ethiopian rainy season. In Ethiopia, rainy season is from mid-June to mid-September.

"The actual reinstallation of the obelisk will start as soon as the rainy season is over," said the Italian engineer.

The obelisk, weighing 160 tons and standing 24 meters high, is around 1,700 years old and has become a symbol of the Ethiopian people's identity. In 1937 the invaders of fascist Italy have dismantled and taken it on the orders of Benito Mussolini. After almost 70 years, the stele returned home in April last year by an Antonov 124-100 cargo plane.

Ethiopia is one of the oldest continuous civilizations in the world. The first known civilization in Ethiopia was that of the mighty Aksumite Kingdom. Having established itself in 1,000 BC, in northern Ethiopia, it eventually spread over all of northern and even central Ethiopia. The ancient city of Axum, which was started by the Aksumites, was Ethiopia's first capital city.

Source: Xinhua