Meredith, 21, was found dead in the house she and Knox shared in Perugia
Knox and Raffaele Sollecito spent four years in jail for murder
Returned to US after she and Sollecito were cleared in October 2011
Rudy Guede was convicted of murder and is serving a 16-year sentence
Re-trial is likely to take place in absentia - the U.S. is unlikely to extradite her
Amanda Knox has been sensationally ordered to stand a re-trial over the 2007 killing of her British flatmate Meredith Kercher in Perugia.
Miss Knox said the news that the Italian court had overturned the acquittals of her and ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito for the murder was both 'painful' and 'unfair.'
Today Meredith Kercher's family admitted they had 'lots of unanswered questions' but said the ruling represented a step forward for the family who still hope to discover precisely what happened to the Leeds University student on the night she died.
Knox, 25, and her Sollecito, 29, spent four years in jail, but were freed on appeal in 2011 largely on the grounds DNA evidence was flawed.
Knox returned to the U.S. after she was freed and now lives in Seattle - Italian law cannot compel her to return for the re-running of her appeal, but if she is convicted, Italy could seek her extradition.
In a statement, Miss Knox said: 'It was painful to receive the news that the Italian Supreme Court decided to send my case back for revision when the prosecution's theory of my involvement in Meredith's murder has been repeatedly revealed to be completely unfounded and unfair.'
'The prosecution responsible for the many discrepancies in their work must be made to answer for them, for Raffaele's sake, my sake and most especially for the sake of Meredith's family. Our hearts go out to them.'
She added: 'No matter what happens, my family and I will face this continuing legal battle as we always have, confident in the truth and with our heads held high in the face of wrongful accusations and unreasonable adversity.'
The body of Miss Kercher, from Coulsdon, Surrey, was found in November 2007 in her bedroom at the house she shared with Knox and other roommates in Perugia, an Italian university town where the two women were exchange students.
Her throat had been slashed and she had more than 40 wounds on her body.
Prosecutors alleged that the student was the victim of a drug-fuelled sex game gone awry.
Knox and Sollecito denied wrongdoing, but were convicted of Miss Kercher's murder in December 2009 and sentenced to 26 and 25 years respectively after a trial that grabbed headlines all over the world.
They were cleared in October 2011 after a fresh hearing uncovered a bungled police investigation.
Defence lawyers and experts revealed how evidence had been contaminated or poorly handled by forensic teams and that the conviction should be considered unsafe.
The appeals court noted that the murder weapon was never found, said that DNA tests were faulty and added that Knox and Sollecito had no motive to kill Kercher.
But yesterday prosecutors appealed against that ruling and argued that the acquittals were 'contradictory and illogical.'
They argued that despite the appellate decision, they still believe Knox and her former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, are responsible for the death.
'We are still convinced that they are the co-authors of Meredith's homicide,' Perugia prosecutor Giovanni Galati said, according to the Italian news agency ANSA.
A young drifter from Ivory Coast, Rudy Guede, was convicted of the slaying in separate proceedings and is serving a 16-year sentence.
Ms Kercher's family have resisted theories that Guede acted alone.
Knox and Sollecito have both maintained their innocence, though they said that smoking marijuana the night Miss Kercher was killed had clouded their recollections.
Their behaviour in the days following the death, including being pictured kissing, raised suspicion.
Speaking at her family's home in Coulsdon, Surrey, her sister Stephanie Kercher, 29, said 'There are a lot of unanswered questions still. We are very hopeful that it going back to court will help find those answers and find out the truth of what happened that night.
'Whilst we are not happy about going back to court, and it will not bring her back, we have to make sure we have done all we can for her.
'We still have a long journey ahead and we are very grateful for the support of the public and in Italy - we just want justice for Mez.'
She said a trust set up in her sister's name, which is helping to pay legal costs in the case, would eventually support people who found themselves in a similar situation.
She added: 'We've set up the Meredith Kercher Trust to help with Meredith's case, but with the view that I'm going to convert it to a charity to help other people once our case is closed. Just people in our situation really.
'On the back of depending what interest I get with it will determine how I can best help other people.
'But I think one thing that has come out of it for us is we don't actually have any financial support from anyone at all, so it is literally all paid for by ourselves. I think if there's any way we could help anyone else in that situation it would help.
Francesco Maresca, a lawyer representing the Kercher family, said: 'I am happy the Supreme court has seen the faults in the acquittal and I trust the next trial will be fair and balanced.'
The prosecution's appeal, which was backed by Meredith's family, was upheld after a five-hour hearing during which prosecutors and lawyers representing Knox and Sollecito battled over key evidence.
The six judge panel will release the reasoning behind their verdict at a later date.
Sollecito, who is currently studying robotics in Verona, was 'unlikely' to be jailed again in the run-up to the new appeal hearing, according to his lawyer Giulia Buongiorno.
The latest developments mean Miss Knox could face the threat of an extradition request from the Italian government.
The U.S. and Italy brought an extradition treaty into force in 1984, when Ronald Reagan was president.
The treaty obligates each country to extradite anyone charged with or convicted of an extraditable offence - or any offences punishable under the laws of both countries by a jail sentence of more than one year.
Italy must provide the U.S. with specific documents to demonstrate they have 'probable cause to believe' that Miss Kercher was murdered and Miss Knox committed the offence.
Knox has written a book about her imprisonment and is due to give an interview to Diane Sawyer for American TV station ABC next month ahead of its release.
Publisher HarperCollins paid a $4million advance for the memoirs
Sollecito has also written a book and has already given an interview on Italian TV about the case.
He told interviewers that he and Knox were no longer a couple but they were still in touch.
He visited her in the United States at the end of last year and they speak on Skype regularly.
During the investigation and trial, prosecutors said Knox was highly sexual and had manipulated Sollecito but her lawyers dismissed the theory.
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