The editor of Egypt's top state newspaper has called on authorities to seriously deal with the case of an Italian student tortured and killed in Cairo, saying officials who don't realize the gravity of the case are risking a break in Egyptian-Italian relations.
In a front-page column, Al-Ahram's Editor-in-Chief Mohammed Abdel-Hadi Allam subtly yesterday suggested that Guilio Regeni's killing might have the same impact in Egypt as the 2010 beating to death by police of an Egyptian youth in the coastal city of Alexandria.
The brutal death of Khaled Said helped ignite a popular 18-day uprising that began on January 25, 2011 and toppled the 29-year regime of autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
"The Khaled Said case, despite its circumstances, did not go away like some thought at the time," he warned. "The naive stories about Regeni's death have hurt Egypt at home and abroad and offered some a justification to judge what is going on in the country now to be no different from what went on before the January 25 revolution."
Regeni's death has roiled Egyptian-Italian relations. Last month Egyptian authorities implied that Regeni had been killed by a criminal gang specializing in kidnapping foreigners.
Authorities said all members of the gang had been killed in a shootout and that Regeni's passport and several personal items had been found in the gang leader's home.
The announcement was immediately rejected by Italian media and by Regeni's family, who have publicly stated a belief that Regeni was killed by Egyptian security forces.
Premier Matteo Renzi has insisted Italy will settle for nothing less than the truth.
Allam, in his column, charged that Egypt was embarrassed and placed in a "very grave situation" by officials who didn't understand the "value of truth" and the priority given to human rights in Europe.
A "moment of truth" between Egypt and Italy over what happened to Regeni may be fast approaching, he said, adding that "futile dealings" and "gross exaggerations" may not be useful.
It is unusual for an editor in chief of a state-owned newspaper, particularly the traditionally cautious Al-Ahram, to be so outspoken on a sensitive issue, something that speaks to the enormity of the crisis in Egypt's relations with Italy its biggest European Union trade partner and a key market for its now-battered tourism sector.
Allam's counsel that the truth must be brought to light seemed to support the contention that the official criminal gang explanation is not the true story.
