The question of the Aksum obelisk looted from Ethiopia in 1937 on Mussolini's personal orders, and not returned in accordance with Art Article 37 of the Italo-UN peace treaty of 1947, will not go away until restitution is finally made.
Italian Parliamentarians raise the matter from time to time. The most recent occasion is reported in the Atti Parliamentari, of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, meeting of 28 November, Page 4900.
Two Deputies, Leoni and Pezzoni, raised the question with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Cultural Affairs. The Parliamentarians pointed out that the stele was one of Ethiopia's most historic artifacts. They recalled that Italian press reports had stated that reference to the appointment of a commission on the stele had been made by Minister Paolucci, in October of last year, and by Under-Secretary Serri, in June of This year. On the basis of these reports the Parliamentarians asked what the Commission had so far done, and, if (as the Parliamentarians evidently suspected) nothing had in fact been done: (1) what were the reasons for the delay; and (2) how did the government intend "to overcome delay as fast as possible".
The are good questions, which we also would ask.
A further point of information: A reader, Ato Sisay, asks why people refer to the obelisk as "stele". Your assumption, Ato Sisay, is mistaken. The word "stele", as you will see if you consult the Oxford English Dictionary, is defined as "a standing block or slab", usually of stone. It is true the stele in Aksum was stolen by fascist Italy, but the word "stele" has absolutely no etymological connection with the word "stole"!