Ekip
10 April 2016•Update: 14 April 2016
By Omar Azzam and Mahmoud al-Husseini
CAIRO
Italy’s ambassador to Egypt departed Cairo on Sunday after being summoned back to Rome by the Italian Foreign Ministry amid an ongoing diplomatic row over the murder earlier this year of an Italian doctoral student in the Egyptian capital.
"The embassy is functioning normally, but we don’t know how long Ambassador Matsirio Massari -- who was summoned [by the Foreign Ministry] for consultations in Italy -- will be away from his post," an official embassy source, who insisted on anonymity, told Anadolu Agency.
Massari was summoned back to Italy on Friday, following consultations in Rome between Italian and Egyptian investigators over the murder earlier this year of Giulio Regeni, a 28-year-old Italian doctoral student.
"Massari left today with his family aboard an Italian airliner," a security source at Cairo International Airport told Anadolu Agency.
"He did not leave through the airport’s VIP gate, but rather via the normal passenger terminal," the source added.
On Saturday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry expressed his country’s annoyance regarding Rome’s decision to recall its ambassador from Cairo following the meeting in Rome, according to a ministry statement.
On the same day, Egyptian Assistant Attorney-General Mustafa Suleiman said the Rome meeting had ended in disagreement due to Egypt’s refusal to meet a request by Italian investigators to hand over phone records that they believed were relevant to the case.
According to the Italian embassy in Cairo, Regeni came to Cairo last September to work on his doctoral thesis on the Egyptian economy. In late January, he disappeared in Cairo’s Dokki district before his body was found -- bearing signs of torture -- several days later.
Regeni vanished on Jan. 25 -- the fifth anniversary of a popular uprising that forced autocratic President Hosni Mubarak to step down after 30 years in power.
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 the grisly murder, informed observers say the signs of torture on the young man’s body were similar to those associated with Egyptian police torture.
Ali Abo Rezeg contributed to this report
