An Egyptian spokesperson says President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi has told a visiting Italian official that there is a "strong will" to bring the killers of an Italian researcher to justice.
Giulio Regeni, a 28-year-old Cambridge University doctoral student who was studying labour unions in Egypt, was abducted in January 2016 and tortured for several days before his body was left on a desert highway north of Cairo.
Al-Sisi met with Italy's deputy prime minister, Luigi Di Maio, in Cairo on Wednesday. Presidential spokesperson Bassam Radi says al-Sisi expressed confidence that the investigation into Regeni's death would be completed.
Rights groups have documented several disappearances in recent years and say torture is widespread in Egypt's detention facilities. Egyptian security officials have denied any involvement in Regeni's abduction or murder.
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