Egypt editor warns of break in ties with Italy

‘Govt should handle Regini’s case seriously’

File photo shows Paola, the mother of Giulio Regini (center), flanked by lawyer Alessandra Ballerini (left), and by senator Luigi Manconi attending a press conference at the Italian Senate, in Rome. The editor of Egypt’s top state newspaper called on Egyptian authorities

CAIRO, April 4, (AP): The editor of Egypt’s top state newspaper called on authorities on Sunday 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 Editorin-Chief Mohammed Abdel-Hadi Allam subtly suggested that Guilio Regini’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 Jan 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 Regini’s death have hurt Egypt at home and

Defence spokesman Brigadier General Rabe Abubakar said al-Barnawi, who is thought to be in his late 30s, was arrested in Lokoja, the capital of the central state of Kogi, on Saturday.

Reuters has been unable to independently verify the details provided by the military which has not yet released photographic or video evidence, as it has with previous arrests. “He has been arrested. We have made that giant stride,” said Abubakar, adding that some Boko Haram fighters had surrendered to Nigerian troops.

Muhammadu Buhari, who took office last May, has made it a priority of his presidency to defeat Islamist militancy in Africa’s most populace nation.

The arrest of al-Barnawi, if independently confirmed, would be significant as jihadists have been pushed out of northeastern areas they once controlled and conflicting messages on social media suggest internal schisms.

But Nigerian security analyst Fulan Nasrullah expressed doubts that he had indeed been captured.

“Khalid’s people and I have spoken and they have said that he is free and was not captured, whether in Lokoja or anywhere else,” he said.

“They have killed seven different people at seven different times thinking they were Khalid al-Barnawi. They have no photos of him, nor do they know any concrete information about him,” he added.

The defence spokesman could not immediately be reached to respond to Nasrullah’s comments.

The United States has put alBarnawi and two other Nigerian militants on the blacklist of “foreign terrorists”.

Britain also put Ansaru on its official “terrorist group” list, saying the group was aligned with al-Qaeda and was behind the kidnapping of a British national and a Italian who were killed in 2012 during a failed rescue attempt. In 2012 Ansaru claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of a French engineer.

Reports of the Ansaru leader’s arrest come amid developments that suggest the Islamist militant movement in Nigeria may be losing momentum.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau appeared in a video circulated last month in which he seemed to suggest he was ailing and Boko Haram was losing its effectiveness. But another video emerged last week saying there would be no surrender.

Boko Haram controlled a swathe of land in northeast Nigeria around the size of Belgium at the start of last year but was pushed out by Nigerian troops, aided by soldiers from neighbouring countries.

It has since resorted to attacks on public places, such as markets and places of worship.

on April 3, to seriously deal with the case of an Italian student tortured and killed in Cairo, saying officials who didn’t realize the gravity of the case are risking Egyptian-Italian relations. Italian Premier Matteo Renzi has insisted Italy will settle for nothing less than the truth. (AP)

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 Jan 25 revolution.”

Regini’s death has roiled Egyptian-Italian relations. Last month Egyptian authorities implied that Regini 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 Regini’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 Regini’s family, who have publicly stated a belief that Regini 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 Regini 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 stateowned 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.

An Afghan amputee practises walking with her prosthetic leg at one of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) hospitals for war victims and the disabled in Kabul on April 3. The ICRC ortho

paedic project was set up in 1988 in Kabul. (AFP)