CAIRO // Italy’s ambassador to Egypt left Cairo on Sunday after Rome recalled him over a lack of progress in the probe into the murder of an Italian student, an airport official and a diplomatic source said.
Italy, a key ally of Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s regime, recalled Maurizio Massari after last week’s inconclusive meetings between Italian investigators and an Egyptian team that visited Rome to present their findings into Giulio Regeni’s murder.
Regeni, a 28-year-old Cambridge University PhD student, had been researching labour unions when he disappeared on January 25 from central Cairo.
His badly mutilated body was found more than a week later by the side of a road on the outskirts of the Egyptian capital.
During the meetings in Rome, Italy had demanded thousands of phone records to investigate the murder, which Egypt’s assistant state prosecutor Mostafa Suleiman said was a demand that “violates the Egyptian constitution”.
Mr Suleiman, who headed the Egyptian team that visited Rome, said the Italian investigators “conditioned further judicial cooperation on this demand” which his team flatly refused.
Mr Suleiman said the Italian investigators also demanded CCTV footage of the area from where Regeni had disappeared. He said the footage had been automatically deleted by then.
On Sunday, Mr Massari left for Rome after Italy recalled him for consultations, an Italian diplomatic source said. An airport official also confirmed he had departed Cairo.
Italian officials have greeted Egypt’s explanations concerning Regeni’s murder with outright scepticism.
They suspect he was killed by elements in the Egyptian security services, an accusation which Cairo has steadfastly denied.
Regeni’s murder has troubled Cairo-Rome diplomatic ties given that prime minister Matteo Renzi shares a close relationship with Mr El Sisi, helping in turn to generate hugely valuable business contracts for Italian companies in Egypt.
* Agence France-Presse
Zombieland: Double Tap
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Stars: Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone
Four out of five stars
When Umm Kulthum performed in Abu Dhabi
Known as The Lady of Arabic Song, Umm Kulthum performed in Abu Dhabi on November 28, 1971, as part of celebrations for the fifth anniversary of the accession of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan as Ruler of Abu Dhabi. A concert hall was constructed for the event on land that is now Al Nahyan Stadium, behind Al Wahda Mall. The audience were treated to many of Kulthum's most well-known songs as part of the sold-out show, including Aghadan Alqak and Enta Omri.
It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
Votes
Total votes: 1.8 million
Ashraf Ghani: 923,592 votes
Abdullah Abdullah: 720,841 votes
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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more from Janine di Giovanni
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills