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Unsolved murder case of Italian in Egypt closed

Egypt will be temporarily closing the case file on the murder of Italian student Giulio Regeni.

Prosecutors there and in Italy said in a joint statement that the person who killed him is still unknown.

Regeni vanished in Cairo in January 2016.

His body was found almost a week later - and a post mortem examination showed he had been tortured before his death.

There's contention between his home country and Egypt over who the culprit might be.

The Egyptian public prosecutor says it has evidence against a criminal gang accused of robbing the 28-year-old Cambridge University student.

But, as of Monday (November 30), it said "the material perpetrator" of the murder remains unknown.

Meanwhile, Rome's prosecutors office was wrapping up its own, separate investigation into five Egyptian security agents it suspects in the case.

The statement said it would shortly present its findings to a judge.

A legal source told Reuters that they are expected to push for the trial of some or all of the five.

Egypt's public prosecutor maintains there is insufficient evidence to bring the case to court.

Regeni's family called the statement the, quote, "umpteenth slap in the face" from Egyptian authorities.

Intelligence and security sources told Reuters back in 2016 that police had arrested Regeni outside a Cairo metro station - before transferring him to a compound run by Homeland Security.

The police deny this, and Egyptian officials have also denied any involvement in Regeni's murder.