Killing of five Egyptians deepens mystery over Italian's death

It was a brutal killing that became an international incident: An Italian graduate student disappeared from the streets of the Egyptian capital in January, his body discovered days later dumped by a roadside, tortured to death.

The death of Guilio Regeni quickly poisoned ties between Egypt and Italy, where suspicions were high that Egyptian police - who have long been accused of using torture and secret detentions - snatched the 28-year-old and killed him. Egyptian officials - as high up as the president, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, in a national address - have denied any police role, but in the months since the slayings, the Italian government has hiked the pressure for answers.

Then in March came a surprise twist. Egyptian police announced they had killed a gang of five Egyptian men they said specialized in kidnapping and robbing foreigners and, while searching the gang leader's sister's home, came upon Regeni's passport. Government media proclaimed that Regeni's killers had been found.