Khawla Mattar, director of the United Nations information centre in Cairo, denied on Monday that a UN consultant who was shot to death on Sunday in Cairo's Mohandiseen district had been involved with a UN-sponsored "anti-virginity test campaign."
Mattar told Ahram Online that the UN sponsored no such program in Egypt. Mattar's denial came in response to widespread speculation on social-networking sites that the victim had been killed for her involvement in the program.
Nermine Khalil, an Egyptian citizen, was fatally shot in the head while driving through the upscale Mohandiseen district on Sunday morning.
According to Mattar, Khalil had worked for the UN in Cairo as a freelance consultant on several human resources training programs.
It remains unclear, however, whether Khalil was specifically targeted or killed in a random crime. Police, who have yet to make any arrests, say she was shot by unidentified gunmen driving in another car.
Khalil had also worked for Al-Borg medical laboratories as an HR manager.
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