CAIRO — Cairo is anxiously awaiting the decisions of the Italian government concerning Rome’s relations with Egypt following the murder of Italian graduate student Giulio Regeni in Egypt, and Cairo’s failure to reveal the reasons behind the tragic events and to provide evidence establishing the real culprit. Regeni went missing in Cairo on Jan. 25 and his body was found on the side of a desert road Feb. 3. Tension reached its peak between the two countries when Italy recalled its ambassador to Egypt on April 8, which some observers viewed as the beginning of a halt in relations between the two countries, especially in the commercial sphere.
The announcement of Regeni’s death coincided with the visit of the Italian Ministry of Economic Development, Federica Judy, in February, at the head of an economic delegation including 30 Italian businesses to discuss a number of investment and cooperation opportunities in the fields of trade, industry, irrigation, oil and gas. However, with the discovery of the murder, the Italian minister canceled the visit and returned back home, disregarding the visit agenda and the several agreements that were expected to be signed between Egypt and Italy.
