Egypt offers full cooperation to probe into Italian student's death

Egypt summoned on Thursday the Italian ambassador to Cairo, offering full cooperation in a probe into the death of an Italian student in the Arab nation recently, an Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a statement.

Egyptian Assistant Foreign Minister Hesham Seif met with Italian Ambassador Maurizio Massari, reaffirming Egypt's keenness on full cooperation and coordination with the Italian side to reveal the reasons for the young man's death soonest, said Ahmed Abu Zeid.

"The assistant foreign minister asserted during the meeting that the distinguished and special ties between Egypt and Italy oblige Egypt to provide all forms of assistance to the Italian side," he added.

The statement came hours after Italy summoned Egypt's ambassador to Rome to officially demand details about the recent ambiguous death of the 28-year-old student Giulio Regeni on the outskirts of Cairo.

Regeni reportedly disappeared in Cairo on January 25 while the country, amid massive security presence and police deployment, was marking the national Police Day that coincides with the fifth anniversary of the 2011 uprising that toppled long-time leader Hosni Mubarak.

Before his disappearance, the Italian PhD student went out to meet a friend in downtown Cairo where he lives nearby.

Some local media said that Regeni's body was found Wednesday on a highway on the outskirts of Cairo with marks of torture and beating on it.

Egyptian and Italian foreign ministers met in London on Thursday on the sidelines of Syria's donors conference, and they agreed on "full cooperation between the two sides to find out the reasons for the death," said the spokesman.

Italy is one of Egypt's most important European economic and trade partners, and the ties between the two countries have always been good and stable. Endit