Egypt receives official notification of Italy's recall to its ambassador

Saturday 09-04-2016 02:13 PM

Poster published by Italian researcher Giulio Regeni's friends on social media in January 2016

CAIRO, Apr 9 (Aswat Masriya) - Egypt's foreign ministry said on Saturday it received an official notification regarding the recalling of the Italian ambassador to Rome for consultations over slain Italian student Giulio Regeni. 

Citing Egypt's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid, state- run MENA news agency reported that the ministry received a notification that ambassador Maurizio Massari was recalled for consultations with the Italian government over Regeni's case.

The 28-year-old Italian researcher went missing in Cairo on Jan. 25, 2016, which marked the fifth anniversary of the popular uprising that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak.

Ten days later, Regeni's body was found, bearing signs of torture, in a roadside ditch on the outskirts of Cairo.

Italy's recall of its ambassador comes following a meeting between Egyptian and Italian investigators in Rome to discuss the case.  The Egyptian delegation was expected to present the latest findings on the case but the results do not seem to have satisfied Italy.

Judicial sources told the Italian news agency ANSA that the 2,000-page dossier the Egyptian delegation has brought on the case is "still incomplete" and lacks fundamental elements that Italy has been asking for over a month.

In a press conference on Friday, the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said that Italy will stop only after the truth is revealed.

The Egyptian delegation returned on Saturday from Rome.

Egypt's foreign ministry said it will discuss the outcome of the delegation's meeting in Italy and will "evaluate" the situation accordingly, said Abu Zeid in a statement on Friday.

Though it is not yet clear who was behind the torture and death of the young Italian student, several Italian media outlets blamed Egypt's interior ministry for being involved in the case.

The interior ministry, however, has denied any responsibility for the incident and claimed last month that it killed four gang members, who might have been linked to the death of Regeni.

In a statement then, the ministry said that the gang specialized in "impersonating police officers and kidnapping foreigners," and that a  bag was found in the apartment a gang member's relative containing Regeni’s student cards and a brown wallet with his passport in it.

Italy threatened earlier last week that it is ready to take "immediate and proportionate" measures against Egypt in the event the truth wasn't revealed.

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