Body of Italian found in Cairo repatriated to Rome

The body of a 28-year-old Italian student who had disappeared in Cairo last week and was found dead was repatriated on Saturday to Italy which has launched an investigation into his death.

Giulio Regeni, a Cambridge University PhD student, had gone missing on January 25 while on his way to meet a friend.

His half-naked body which showed signs of torture was found in a roadside ditch on the outskirts of Cairo early on Wednesday.

Egypt's public prosecutor Hossam Nassar said he had been murdered.

Italian Justice Minister Andrea Orlando was with members of Regeni's family when his body arrived back in Rome Saturday.

"I am here to convey the government's condolences... but also to confirm the government's determination to shed light quickly (on Regeni's death) and bring those responsible to justice," Orlando told journalists.

Italian investigators have arrived in Cairo, the Rome prosecutor has opened an inquiry and a new autopsy is scheduled.

An initial Egyptian prosecution report seen by an AFP reporter said Regeni's body had bruises and injuries, including from apparent cigarette-burn marks near the eyes and on the feet.

Italy's ambassador to Egypt, Maurizio Massari, also reported signs of torture after a visit to the Cairo morgue.

"I saw wounds, some bruises and burns. There is no doubt that this boy had been violently beaten and tortured," he told the Corriere della Sera newspaper.

Regeni, whose studies included Arabic and Arab literature, was from Fiumicello near Udine in northeastern Italy.

He was in Cairo doing research for his doctoral thesis on trade unions in Egypt and was last seen when he left his home with the intention of travelling by metro to meet a friend in the city centre.

Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni, speaking to reporters on Saturday in Amsterdam, said Italian investigators were beginning to work with Egyptian authorities on the case.

Gentiloni mentioned preliminary arrests, but the deputy head of criminal investigations in Cairo's twin province of Giza, Alaa Azmi, denied that anyone had been detained.