Regeni killed because of his research- prosecutor

(ANSA) - Rome, January 25 - Giulio Regeni was killed because of his research and the Egyptian secret services had a role in the case, Rome prosecutor Giuseppe Pignatone wrote in a letter to daily newspapers Corriere della Sera and La Repubblica on Thursday, the second anniversary of his disappearance in Cairo. The Italian Cambridge PhD researcher's tortured body was found on the road to Alexandria on February 3, 2016.
    The motive for the murder was linked to "the research activity Giulio conducted in the months of his stay in Cairo", wrote Pignatone, who is in charge of the Italian probe into the case.
    He said this and "the action of the Egyptian public apparatus, which had concentrated their attention on Giulio in the previous months, with more pressing methods, up to January 25" are "firm points". Premier Paolo Gentiloni said Thursday that Italy will not stop trying to get to the bottom of the death of Regeni. "Italy has not forgotten, two years after the horrible murder of Giulio Regeni," Gentiloni said via Twitter. "The commitment to seek the truth continues".
    . Il movente, "pacificamente da ricondurre alle attività di ricerca effettuate da Giulio nei mesi di permanenza al Cairo", e "l'azione degli apparati pubblici egiziani che già nei mesi precedenti avevano concentrato su Giulio la loro attenzione, con modalità sempre più stringenti, fino al 25 gennaio", sono "punti fermi" he Egyptian Prosecutor General's office said Wednesday a letter attributed to the Egyptian secret services citing the arrest of Giulio Regeni was "totally counterfeit". In a statement, it said "this letter is totally falsified and the Egyptian Prosecutor-General's office immediately informed its Italian counterpart" of its falsity "in the framework of the fruitful cooperation between the two sides". "The Egyptian prosecutor-general's office on January 22 received from its Italian counterpart an anonymous letter sent to the Italian embassy in Swiss capital Bern," the statement said, which said Regeni had been arrested by the Egyptian secret services. The letter was dated January 30 2016, or five days after Regeni's disappearance. Rome prosecutors asked their Egyptian counterparts to confirm the information in the letter, the statement said. "This news could hurt cooperation between the two prosecutor's offices," the statement said. It said the letter was "categorically" false, including its stamps and signatures. Thursday January 25 is the second anniversary of the Italian Cambridge PhD researcher's abduction. His tortured body was found on the road to Aleaxandria on February 3, 2016.
    Egypt's secret services, frequently accused of repressing dissent, have denied any part in his torture and murder.
    Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi recently vowed to help Italy find the culprits. Friuli-born Regeni, 28, was researching a politically sensitive topic, Egyptian street-seller unions.
    His contact, the head of the Cairo street sellers, told police he was a spy.