CAIRO: An Egyptian man was killed in Milan, Italy, on Sunday after he was stabbed with a knife by immigrants from South America. The violence has angered scores of migrants from Egypt and North African countries and led to a riot, which broke out in the city as Egyptians began protesting the murder of the Egyptian citizen. Hamid Mahmoud al-Fayed, 19, a friend and two young men from Morocco and Ivory Coast, clashed with five immigrants from Peru, police have said, adding that the quarrel ended with the stabbing of the young man in the chest. The murderer and his four friends escaped after the incident and police are currently looking for their whereabouts. The Italian police added that immigrants from North Africa, mostly Egyptians, were angered and some of them clashed with police and smashed shop windows and cars in the city. Milan's police arrested a number of Egyptians and are holding them for questioning, in light of the continued search for the suspects in the killing of the young Egyptian. According to the investigation, about 25 Egyptians took part in the riots and then went to the Egyptian consulate building in Milan, demanding intervention from Cairo. They ended their gathering after the Consulate stressed that it would follow the incident. For his part, Ambassador Mohamed Abdel-Hakim, Assistant Foreign Minister for Consular Affairs and Egyptians Abroad, said that the Italian police are going to intensify their efforts and their investigations are currently under way to arrest the Peruvian perpetrators and review the existing surveillance cameras in the street, which witnessed the death of the Egyptian citizen. Amr Abbas, Consul General of Egypt in Italy, told local newspapers that he is in constant contact with investigators in the incident and met on Monday with the director of security in Milan, stressing that the investigation is “closing in on identifying the killer.” Abdel-Hakim said later on Monday that the efforts undertaken by the Embassy in Rome and the consulate general in Milan “resulted in the release of 25 Egyptian citizens, who were arrested in the wake of killing of the Egyptian citizen in Milan.” He added that “the Italian authorities are now holding only four of the Egyptian citizens for questioning for some of the riots that took place in the wake of the incident, as the Italian authorities decided to deport two of the Egyptians who were released, given that they are residing in Italy illegally.” Official spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Hossam Zaki said that the killing of an Egyptian citizen, resident in Milan, Italy by five citizens of Peru was “an individual incident.” Zaki said, in a statement to Egyptian TV, that the “incident had its special causes and circumstances,” hoping that this incident would not affect the presence of the Egyptian community, which is believed to be tens of thousands in the European nation and “who have integrated into Italian society and contribute to its development.” BM
