DUSHANBE, July 1, 2014, Asia-Plus – Radio Liberty reports Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Aslov will hold talks with British officials about the situation around a researcher arrested in Tajikistan.

The Tajik Embassy in London told RFE/RL on June 27 that Aslov will visit Britain this week.

British Foreign Office spokeswoman Nisha Begum-Ali told RFE/RL on June 27 that “together with EU partners in Dushanbe,” British officials “have issued an EU statement expressing concern and urging the government of Tajikistan to provide information on Mr. [Alexander] Sodiqov’s detention, location, and state of health.”

Sodiqov, 31, a Tajik national residing in Canada, was detained in Tajikistan''s southern city of Khorog on June 16, shortly after speaking with civil society activists there.

Sodiqov said he had been touring Central Asia as part of his doctoral research at Britain''s University of Exeter and the University of Toronto.