CAIRO, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi vowed on Wednesday to bring to justice the murderers of Italian researcher Giulio Regeni who was found dead in Cairo in early 2016.
"We have not forgotten Regeni's issue and we will not let it go until we bring the perpetrators to justices in Egypt," the Egyptian president addressed an Italian oil company chief in a ceremony aired by the state TV marking the early production of Zohr gas field, the largest in the Mediterranean Sea.
Operating in Egypt for over 60 years, Italy's oil giant Eni announced in August 2015 the discovery of Zohr in the Egyptian offshore of the Mediterranean.
The ceremony of Zohr early production, held in Port Said province northeastern Cairo, was attended by ENI's CEO Claudio Descalzi, whom Sisi hailed for his support of Egypt through challenging work on the gas field.
Regeni, an Italian doctoral student who was then 28, disappeared in Cairo on Jan. 25, 2016, and his tortured, half-naked body was found nine days later on a roadside in the Egyptian capital city.
The accident cast shadow on the diplomatic relations between the two countries, leading to the departure of Italy's ambassador to Cairo for more than a year after, before relations improved and he returned in September 2017.
Regeni's murder took place amid intensive security deployment in Cairo and other major cities in Egypt ahead of the fifth anniversary of the Jan. 25 uprising that toppled long-time ruler Hosni Mubarak in 2011.
A few weeks later, the Egyptian police said they busted and killed a five-member gang in Cairo and found Regeni's handbag, passport and student ID card at the residence of a gang member's relative.
Sisi blames conspirators who want to cause tension in Egypt's ties with Italy for the tragedy.
"They wanted to ruin our relations with Italy, our closest state in the Mediterranean with strong friendship ties, to prevent us from reaching this cooperation," said the Egyptian president, referring to Zohr gas field joint project.
Rome's chief prosecutor said that the young researcher was under Egyptian surveillance before his death due to his research into Egypt's independent labour unions, according to an article published by an Italian newspaper last week, on the second anniversary of Regeni's disappearance.
The Egyptian police have repeatedly denied any involvement in Regeni's murder.
