The Egyptian military announced joint military exercises with Italy, including drills in mountainous areas in Italy, days after an Italian court convicted three Egyptian security officials in the case of the killing of researcher Giulio Regeni. In a statement Thursday, the Egyptian military spokesperson said that, "as part of the armed forces' commitment to strengthening military cooperation with friendly and brotherly countries," elements of the Egyptian Thunderbolt Forces and Italian Special Forces conducted the joint exercise "4IT-EGY-T-" to train in mountain warfare. The exercise was held over several days in Italy. The spokesperson added that the activities included a number of tactical and specialized exercises, including training in safe movement in mountainous areas, dealing with difficult geographical terrain, mountain-climbing skills, and rapid descent from high elevations in unconventional environments and weather conditions. According to the Egyptian military, the exercise aims to exchange expertise, hone combat and specialized skills, and enhance the efficiency and readiness of participating personnel to carry out missions requiring specialized skills effectively. The exercise comes as an Italian court ruled Monday to sentence three Egyptian officers to 10 years in prison after convicting them of involvement in "the abduction and detention of Regeni." The court acquitted Major General Tarek Saber, the former head of Egypt's National Security Agency. Egypt denies any involvement by state agencies in the case. The four men were tried in absentia under Italian laws that allow the prosecution of crimes committed against Italian citizens abroad. Italian authorities said they were unable to determine the whereabouts of the defendants. Regeni, a graduate student at the UK's University of Cambridge, disappeared in the Egyptian capital on January 25, 2016. His body was found about a week later. Relations between Italy and Egypt deteriorated sharply following Regeni's killing but have gradually recovered in recent years. Cairo hosted the Egypt-Italy Joint Higher Committee on September 3, chaired by the two countries' foreign ministers, for the first time since 2014. The two sides also held a business forum to discuss strengthening economic cooperation. In an earlier statement to Asharq Al-Awsat, Ambassador Rakha Ahmed Hassan, a member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs, said Cairo and Rome separate their bilateral relations from the procedures in the Regeni case. He noted that "there is an agreement between Egypt and Italy to strengthen bilateral relations in various fields," alongside "dealing with the case of the Italian researcher as an exceptional individual crime, to be addressed through legal means."
