FILE PHOTO: A man holds a placard during a vigil to commemorate Giulio Regeni, who was found murdered in Cairo a year ago, in downtown Rome, Italy January 25, 2017. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt’s state prosecutor said on Monday a team of Italian experts would go to Cairo next week to take part in the retrieval of CCTV recordings as part of the investigation into the 2016 killing of Italian student Giulio Regeni.

Regeni had been doing postgraduate research into Egyptian trade unions before his death in 2016. His body, showing signs of torture, was found in a ditch on the outskirts of Cairo.

The Egyptian public prosecutor Nabil Sadek said in a statement he had invited Rome’s chief prosecutor Giuseppe Pignatone in a telephone call on Sunday to send a delegation to attend the retrieval of the Cairo metro CCTV recordings on May 15.

Sadek said Cairo had agreed to give the Italian delegation a copy of the recordings.

“The Rome chief prosecutor has decided to send a delegation headed by his assistant, Sergio Colaiocco, and comprising Italian technical experts to attend the retrieval process, on which both sides pin high hopes to reach the truth about the incident and to uncover its perpetrators,” the statement said.

“They agreed that the Rome prosecution will obtain a copy of what is retrieved at the end of the process.”

Egypt agreed last year to allow experts from Italy and a German company that specializes in salvaging CCTV footage to examine cameras in Cairo, but the timing of the trip was not known.

Egyptian officials have repeatedly denied any involvement in Regeni’s death.

The case has strained ties between Egypt and Italy, which recalled its ambassador over the case. Relations were restored in August last year when Rome said it would return its envoy to Cairo and continue to search for Regeni’s killers.[nL8N1L04K8]