Egypt voices ‘discomfort’ over Italy sanctions

By Hussien Mahmoud

CAIRO (AA) – Egypt’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday voiced its "discomfort" over a decision by Italy’s parliament to stop providing military spare parts to Cairo in response to the unsolved murder earlier this year of an Italian postgraduate student in Egypt’s capital.

The ministry described the decision as "inconsistent" with the level of cooperation shown by Egypt in the ongoing investigation -- by both the Italian and Egyptian authorities -- into the student’s death.

Late Wednesday, Italy’s parliament voted to stop supplying Egypt with spare parts for F-16 fighter jets, a fresh consignment of which had been expected to reach Cairo in coming days.

Giulio Regeni, a 28-year-old Italian graduate student, vanished on Jan. 25 of this year -- a date that coincided with the fifth anniversary of a popular uprising that forced Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to step down after 30 years of autocratic rule.

At the time of Regeni’s disappearance, Egypt's sprawling security apparatus had been on high alert to prevent the eruption of any demonstrations marking the anniversary.

On Feb. 3, the student’s dead body -- bearing signs of extreme abuse and torture -- was found in a ditch on Cairo’s outskirts.

While the Egyptian authorities deny any involvement in Regeni’s death, informed observers say the signs of torture on the young man’s body were uncannily similar to those associated with Egyptian police torture.