The case of murdered Italian doctoral student Giulio Regeni is being manipulated by foreign powers seeking to "wage war" on Egypt, the county's prime minister said on Wednesday.
"A war is being waged against Egypt on all fronts and every opportunity is being exploited to damage its people," Sharif Ismail said on Egyptian public television, likening the case to that of the Russian tourist jet downed in Sinai.
"A crime was committed that the police are probing and the Italian side has asked for a joint investigation of the case," Ismail stated.
"When we have the results, we will announce them with maximum transparency and precision."
Ismail said Egypt would cooperate fully with all sides in Regeni's case just as it was doing in the international investigation into the Metrojet flight that the Islamic State jihadist group claimed to have blown up in October, killing all 224 people on board.
Regeni, a 28-year-old Cambridge University PhD student vanished in Cairo on 25 January, the fifth anniversary of the start of the uprising which ended autocrat Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule.
Police had been deployed across Cairo to prevent demonstrations amid an unprecedented crackdown by Egypt's government on dissent.
Regeni's battered, half-naked body was found nine days later in a ditch on Cairo's western outskirts, bearing signs of torture. He had been researching trade union activism in Egypt and had published articles critical of the government and the lack of democracy in the country.
The government has rejected speculation within and outside Egypt that Regeni was murdered by the country's security forces. It has suggested criminal motives, 'revenge' or terrorism could lie behind Regeni's slaying but has so far made no arrests in the case.
On Tuesday, Egypt’s top coroner called "fabricated" a report by Reuters suggesting he provided testimony to prosecutors that Regeni had been tortured for up to seven days before he was killed in order to gain information.
The case has heightened tension between Egypt and Italy, one of its major commercial partners. The Italian government has demanded that those responsible for Regeni's murder be brought to justice and the Egyptian government has vowed to do so.
Egyptian authorities conducted a post-mortem examination before sending Regeni's body home to Italy, where a second autopsy was conducted. The results of the Italian autopsy, which suggested extensive torture, fuelled claims that the student was abducted by Egyptian security services.
.jpg)
.jpg)
