(By Paul Virgo).
Cairo on Monday denied media
reports that Italian researcher Giulio Regeni was detained by
Egyptian security forces before being tortured and murdered,
State news agency MENA said.
"In an official statement published by the interior
ministry, an information department source denied reports
published in the Western media that Italian academic Giulio
Regeni was arrested by members of the security services before
his death," MENA reported.
Italian investigators looking into the death, however, are
taking the hypothesis that the Egyptian officials were involved
seriously, ANSA sources said.
The 28-year-old's burned, cut, and mutilated body was
found dumped in a ditch on February 3 after he went missing on
January 25 - the fifth anniversary of the uprising that ended
the regime of Hosni Mubarak.
The Cambridge University PhD student, who was conducting
research in Cairo, was reportedly scared after he was
photographed at a December 11 independent Egyptian trade union
meeting.
There has been speculation Egyptian security forces may
have mistaken Regeni for a spy or that the killing could be
linked to an article Regeni wrote under a pseudonym, which
referred to that meeting.
Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni on Monday said
that in coming days he'll review progress with the Italian
investigative team that has been in Cairo for about 10 days
probing Regeni's brutal murder.
Gentiloni called Italy's partnership with Egypt "an
important one" and said he expects "full and total collaboration
on the part of the Egyptian authorities".
"It's clear that we won't settle for easy reconstructions
or convenient truth," Gentiloni said.
"And it's also clear that the passage of time won't
diminish our efforts on this issue," he said.
International media have argued that Regeni's death raised
important questions about the alleged repression of opponents to
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's government in Egypt.
Premier Matteo Renzi said before Regeni's funeral in the
northern town of Fiumicello on Friday that Egypt's friendship
with Italy means that it must find and disclose the truth about
Regeni's murder.
"It's a dramatic case and I once again I express my
condolences to Giulio's family and I say what we have already
said to the Egyptians - friendship is a precious thing and it is
only possible with the truth," Renzi told Radio Anch'io.
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