Sisi, Conte review Regeni investigations on G7 sidelines

CAIRO – 25 August 2019: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met on Saturday with Giuseppe Conte, who resigned on Tuesday as Italy's prime minister, on the sidelines of the Summit of the Group of Seven of the most advanced economies held in France's Biarritz.

Sisi and Conte reviewed the latest investigations on the issue of the Italian PhD student, who was tortured and killed in Cairo in 2016, while his body was discovered in February of the same year.

The investigations are carried out by both Egypt and Italy, but perpetrators of the crime are still unannounced.

During the meeting, Sisi stressed the importance Egypt attaches to developing various cooperation frameworks with Italy in various fields, presidential spokesman Bassam Radi said.

For his part, Conte expressed Italy's keenness to continue consultation with the Egyptian president on the latest regional developments, especially the Libyan issue and the fight against terrorism.

They also reviewed ways of developing economic, trade and investment relations between the two countries, especially in light of the opportunities offered by the development projects being implemented in Egypt.

Conte resigned following a clash with the ruling League party, whose leader, Matteo Salvini, also serving as the country's interior minister, decided to present a no-confidence motion in the coalition government, calling on Conte to step down.

G7 stands for seven countries (U.S., the UK, Japan, Italy, Germany, France and Canada), which represent 40% of the global GDP, according to the official website of the Elysee.

France had previously hosted the G7 summits for six times since the establishment of the group in 1975 to tackle global issues of peace, security, health, education, environment, climate change, counterterrorism, etc.

In October 2017, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi paid France a four-day official visit, during which he tackled bilateral and international and regional issues with French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Elysee Palace.

On January 28, 2019, Macron paid Egypt a three-day visit, during which the bilateral relations, as well as the crises in Syria, Libya, Palestine, and Africa were discussed.