A Cambridge University doctoral student from Italy who vanished in Cairo last week has been found dead in a ditch on the outskirts of the Egyptian capital, with reported signs of torture on his body.
Italy's foreign ministry on Thursday confirmed the death of Giulio Regeni in Egypt and summoned Cairo's ambassador to demand "maximum cooperation" in a probe into what happened.
"The Italian government has been informed of the tragic fate presumably suffered by Italian student Giulio Regeni in Cairo," the ministry said in a statement.
Foreign minister Paolo Gentiloni, has expressed deep condolences to Regeni's family, the statement said.
"Italy expects maximum cooperation from Egypt's authorities at all levels in light of this exceptionally grave case involving one of our citizens and given the traditionally warm ties of friendship between the two countries," the foreign ministry's secretary-general Michele Valensise said.
An autopsy was being performed on 28-year-old Regeni, who disappeared on 25 January, the fifth anniversary of the Tahrir Square demonstrations which led to the downfall of president Hosni Mubarak.
Regeni was found dead with signs of physical assault on his corpse, Egyptian daily al-Masry al-Youm cited unnamed sources as saying.
Regeni's corpse had been partially burnt, according to some Egyptian media reports. It may have been a been a robbery that turned violent, they said.
Pro-government daily 'Youm 7' cited Giza's police chief Khaled Shalabi as saying initial evidence suggested Regeni had been killed in a road accident.
However, Giza prosecutors said an initial autopsy showed "clear signs of assault and torture" on Regeni's corpse.
Egyptian human rights activist Mohammed Sobhi said he saw Regeni at a Cairo morgue in the early hours of Thursday but was only allowed to identify him from his face and was not shown the rest of the body, he told Adnkronos International.
Italy's industry minister Federica Guidi cut short a two-day visit to Egypt late on Wednesday after Regeni's death was reported.
Although the cause of his death is still unclear, Regeni's case could hurt Egypt's efforts to project an image of stability and attract more tourism and foreign investment after years of political turmoil and Islamist militant violence.
In the run-up to the 25 January anniversary, police detained activists and warned people not to demonstrate. No significant protests took place.
Regeni disappeared after leaving his home in an upper middle-class district of Cairo to meet a friend downtown, but never arrived, the friend said.
Regeni had been in Cairo since September and was researching the economy with a focus on trade unions in Egypt after the 2011 uprising but was reportedly not involved politically with any of Egypt's dissident groups.
Egyptians are often detained by police on little evidence and beaten or coerced, human rights groups say. Scores have disappeared since 2013.
Egypt denies allegations of police brutality.
