CAIRO, Feb. 4 (Aswat Masriya) - The Egyptian foreign ministry summoned the Italian ambassador to Egypt on Thursday afternoon to follow up on the death of Italian national Giulio Regeni and gather more information, according to a statement by the foreign ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abo Zeid.

Regeni, a 28-year-old Italian Ph.D. student in Cambridge University, disappeared on Jan. 25, on the fifth anniversary of the 2011 Uprising that led Mubarak to step down after his 30-year rule. Ten days after his disappearance, the Italian foreign ministry announced Wednesday night that Regeni was "likely dead," Reuters reported.

Regeni's body was found Wednesday night along the side of Cairo-Alexandria desert road, marred by torture marks and bruises on different places, according to the chief prosecutor for accidents in Egypt's South Giza.

The prosecution issued a burial permit and ordered the transfer of the deceased body to the Italian embassy or family relatives, while continuing its investigation into the death.

Italian Ambassador Maurizio Massari held an emergency meeting at the embassy's headquarters to follow up on the case, stating that information will only be disclosed after details of the case are officially revealed.

Assistant to Foreign Minister Ambassador Hisham Seif al-Deen expressed his deep condolences to the Italian Ambassador  and asserted the Egyptian government's keenness to fully cooperate and coordinate with the Italian side in order to establish the cause of Regeni's death.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with his Italian counterpart Paolo Gentiloni Thursday on the sidelines of a donor conference for Syria held in the UK, where they agreed on enhancing cooperation mechanisms to arrive at the cause of Regeni's death.

Meanwhile, officials from the Italian foreign ministry met with the Egyptian ambassador in Rome, Amr Mostafa Kamal Helmy, and expressed "shock" over the "tragic death" of Regeni in Cairo, the ministry said in an official statement on its website.

Michele Valensise, a ministerial official, said that Italy calls on Egyptian authorities to immediately initiate a joint investigation, with the participation of Italian experts, on Regeni's suspicious death, the Italian foreign ministry's statement added.  

Egyptian prosecutors requested that the student's family and friends provide their testimonies for the investigation process; it also asked for further investigations into the incident from the Interior Ministry.