Roberto Fico, the speaker of Italy's parliament, was in Cairo this week, the fourth visit by a high-ranking Italian official to Egypt in two months. President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi met Fico on Monday. Presidential Spokesman Bassam Radi told reporters the meeting reflected the historic relation between Egypt and Italy and their determination to push it to higher levels. Radi indicated Al-Sisi confirmed that Egypt was fully committed to uncovering the truth behind the murder of Italian student Giulio Regeni in Cairo in 2016. Regeni disappeared on 25 January while conducting postgraduate research on trade unions in Egypt. His body was discovered on 3 February with signs of extensive torture. “President Al-Sisi told the Italian side that he gave instructions that all obstacles standing in the way of investigating the case should be eliminated, and that the murderers be arrested and brought to justice,” Radi said. Fico said he was happy that bilateral relations between Egypt and Italy had reached higher levels in recent months, particularly in the economic and trade sectors. He said he shares the same hope that Regeni's killers be arrested, indicating that this could have a very positive impact on Italian public opinion. “The settlement of this case will boost relations between Egypt and Italy to excellent and unprecedented levels,” Fico said. Fico and Egypt's Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel-Aal also met Sunday evening to discuss moves necessary to boost bilateral relations between Cairo and Rome. A press release said the visit by the speaker of the Italian parliament, the first of its kind to Egypt, reflects the quick improvement in relations between Egypt and Italy. “Egypt and Italy have historic relations and they are keen to keep the friendly ties between them intact at all times,” the release said. Abdel-Aal pointed to Italian companies successfully operating in Egypt, citing Eni, the Italian multi-national oil and gas company which has discovered one of the world's largest natural gas reservoirs, in Egyptian waters in the Mediterranean. Abdel-Aal invited Italian companies to tap potential investments in other promising parts of Egypt. He said he and Fico had agreed that the Egyptian-Italian Businessmen Council should reconvene as soon as possible to boost economic and trade relations between the two countries. “We should exploit the current improvement in political relations to give momentum to economic cooperation between our two leading Mediterranean countries,” Abdel-Aal said. The release said the two speakers also discussed Regeni's death. “This case has become a priority for Egyptian authorities and Egypt is keen that judicial authorities achieve a breakthrough into the murder of Regeni in Cairo,” Abdel-Aal said. Judicial authorities in both Egypt and Italy have been investigating the killing since 2016. Egypt is cooperating with full transparency with Italian authorities, a fact which reflects the scope and nature of the strong relations between the two countries, Abdel-Aal added.
