By Rabie al-Sukkari
CAIRO (AA) - Egypt’s Foreign Ministry has accused Amnesty International of "impartiality" and a "lack of professionalism" in its treatment of the case of Giulio Regeni, an Italian graduate student who was killed in Cairo earlier this year.
In a Wednesday statement, the ministry accused the U.S.-based rights watchdog of pursuing a policy of "deliberate incitement" against Egypt in relation to the Regeni murder case, the investigation of which remains ongoing.
It went on to condemn what it described as Amnesty International’s "policy of incitement against Egypt".
The ministry made the claims after the Italian press reported that Amnesty had sent a letter to Italian Foreign Minister Paulo Jantelaun on Monday in which it had accused the Egyptian authorities of "failing to cooperate in efforts to determine the circumstances of Regeni’s death".
In its letter to Jantelaun, the rights group also reportedly commended Rome’s decision to recall its ambassador from Cairo in the wake of the murder, which occurred in January or February.
A 28-year-old graduate student who had been doing research in Cairo, Regeni vanished on Jan. 25 -- the fifth anniversary of a popular uprising that had forced autocratic President Hosni Mubarak to step down after 30 years in power.
At the time of Regeni’s disappearance in Cairo, 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 the Egyptian capital’s outskirts.
While the Egyptian authorities deny any involvement in Regeni’s murder, informed observers say the signs of abuse on the young man’s body were similar to those associated with Egyptian police torture.
* Ali Abo Rezig contributed to this report from Ankara