(ANSA) - Cairo, February 15 - Cairo on Monday denied media reports that Italian researcher Giulio Regeni was detained by Egyptian security forces before being tortured and murdered, State news agency MENA said. "In an official statement published by the interior ministry, an information department source denied reports published in the Western media that Italian academic Giulio Regeni was arrested by members of the security services before his death," MENA reported.
Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni on Monday said in coming days he'll review progress with the Italian investigative team that has been in Cairo for about 10 days probing the brutal murder of Italian doctoral student Giulio Regeni.
Gentiloni called Italy's partnership with Egypt "an important one" and said he expects "full and total collaboration on the part of the Egyptian authorities".
"It's clear that we won't settle for easy reconstructions or convenient truth," Gentiloni said.
"And it's also clear that the passage of time won't diminish our efforts on this issue," he said. The 28-year-old Regeni was a Cambridge University PhD student conducting research in Cairo on independent trade unions.
His burned, cut, and mutilated body was found dumped in a ditch on February 3 after he went missing on January 25 - the fifth anniversary of the uprising that ended the regime of Hosni Mubarak.