NYT source asked Italian intelligence be given Regeni info

(ANSA) - Rome, August 17 - A high ranking official from the Obama administration who spoke on condition of anonymity to the New York Times on the Giulio Regeni murder case told Italian newspaper La Repubblica that "we asked that as much information be passed on to the Italians as possible". "The choice not to hand over everything we had was to protect the sources who helped us," he said. "This is why I do not know whether the identity of the specific unit behind Giulio's death was revealed. "Most likely, what was sent was not material that could be used in a trial since it was not gathered using traditional channels. "But I have no doubt that, from the documents that we sent to Italy, they could understand what we were firmly convinced of: that the Egyptian secret services were behind the kidnapping and murder of Giulio Regeni. "And that what happened was known at the highest levels of the Egyptian state. "We did not open any specific investigation. We only gathered all the material that we could. "We firmly concluded that the Egyptian secret services were responsible. "We asked that the sharing of information with the Italians be a priority for our secret services. I know for certain that the information was sent via the secret services and not through diplomatic channels, and that the exchange took place on several occasions and not only once. All of this happened in the weeks following the finding of Regeni's body," he added.