Student killing has impacted Italy’s relationship with Egypt, minister says

Italy’s FM has said the killing of the Italian researcher Giulio Regeni in Cairo in 2016 has had a negative effect on relations between the two countries. (File/AFP)

• He said meetings between Italy and Egypt had become very limited, with a decrease in the level of economic cooperation with Egypt
• Egypt was previously considered one of Italy’s most important trade partners in the region

CAIRO: Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Luigi Di Maio has said the killing of the Italian student and researcher Giulio Regeni in Cairo in 2016 has had a negative effect on relations between the two countries.
Di Maio issued a statement to the Italian parliamentary commission investigating Regeni’s death, acknowledging that relations between Rome and Cairo had been significantly affected by the unresolved murder. 
Di Maio reiterated his refusal to withdraw the Italian ambassador to Egypt as a way of pressuring Cairo to act on the Regeni case.  
He said meetings between Italy and Egypt had become very limited, with a decrease in the level of economic cooperation with Egypt, a country that was previously considered one of Italy’s most important trade partners in the region. 
On July 1, Egypt’s Prosecutor General Hamada El-Sawi held his first meeting with his Italian counterpart, the public prosecutor of Rome after the Italian prosecutor’s recent appointment. They held talks by video conference in the presence of members from both teams investigating Regeni’s death.
During the meeting El-Sawi said the investigation taken by the Egyptian public prosecution confirmed the murder of the Italian student in 2016. He also underlined the seriousness of the measures taken in the case and the transparency of the Egyptian investigation team and its desire to reach the truth.
He stressed the independent judicial work of the Egyptian public prosecution and that it remained unaffected by what media outlets had reported about the case.
El-Sawi also highlighted the mutual understanding and trust between the authorities.
Regeni’s mutilated body was found on Feb. 3, 2016 more than a week after he was reportedly kidnapped. He was found in a ditch alongside the Cairo-Alexandria highway on the outskirts of Cairo. Regeni’s killer or killers have never been identified.
Four year later, his death remains among the biggest pending issues that have strained relations between Italy and Egypt.
Regeni was a PhD student researching Egypt’s independent trade unions.
The Italian Parliamentary Committee recently heard testimony from Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and later announced that it will call on all concerned ministers and heads of government who have been in positions of authority since 2016 as part of its investigation. 
On July 16 Di Maio told a hearing at the committee of inquiry into the Regeni case that removing the Italian ambassador in Cairo was not necessary for the truth to be reached.
Di Maio also talked about the significance of cooperation with Egyptian authorities to find the truth about the murder of the Italian student.