DUSHANBE — Tajik authorities have detained BBC Uzbek Service correspondent Usmonboy Urunboev in the northern city of Khujand, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reports.

Tajik Interior Ministry spokesman Mahmadullo Asadulloev said on June 15 that Urunboev, who was born in 1951, joined the banned Islamic movement Hizb ut-Tahrir in 2009 and sought to recruit new members for the group through the Internet.

Asadulloev said several people have made statements confirming this information.

Urunboev’s son, Oybek, said police came to the family’s home on June 13 and told them Urunboev had been arrested. Oybek said police searched the house but did not find anything incriminating.

Diplomats at the British Embassy in Dushanbe said they are aware of Urunboev’s arrest and will monitor the case.

Urunboev has worked in Khujand for the BBC for the past 10 years.

http://www.rferl.org/content/tajik_police_arrest_bbc_correspondent/24236215.html