President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said on Wednesday that the murder of Italian student Giulio Regeni earlier this year will not affect Egypt’s relations with Italy.
al-Sisi’s statement came hours after Italian foreign minister Paolo Gentiloni said that his government was ready to adopt “immediate and proportionate” measures if Cairo does not fully cooperate in uncovering the truth surrounding the murder of Regeni.
Many have speculated that Regeni – whose body was found in Cairo in January with signs of torture – was murdered by security forces, a charge the Egyptian government has strongly denied.
In a meeting with a delegation from the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Cairo, al-Sisi stated that Egypt was committed to “full and transparent cooperation with Italy to reveal the truth and bring the perpetrators to justice.”
“Egypt is also concerned with the disappearance of Egyptian citizen Adel Mowad in Italy in October 2015,” he added.
The Egyptian president also expressed his confidence in the strong Egyptian-Italian relations, adding that these “individual incidents” will not affect this relationship.
al-Sisi also discussed with the NATO delegation the latest developments in Libya, where he stressed on the importance of having a unified international vision in resolving the country’s civil conflict, adding that military action was not enough and stressing the need for a political settlement.
He also said that NATO military operations in Libya were not complete and that the failure to fight militant groups in Libya has let these organisations expand their power in several areas.
source:Ahram Online
