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EPA / DANIELA TEJADA
Matthew Hedges was arrested in the UAE in May.
Signs indicate that Foreign Office staff may be on the verge of solving the case of a British academic, Matthew Hedges, convicted of spying in the UAE.
The ambassador of the United Arab Emirates in London has to make a statement at 10:00 GMT, as part of a rumor that he will talk about the progress made in the situation of the 31-year-old.
On Thursday, Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt said he had had "constructive" talks with his counterpart in the United Arab Emirates.
Mr. Hedges, from Durham University, was jailed for life but denied spying.
His wife, Daniela Tejada, returning from the United Arab Emirates on Thursday morning, said that Mr. Hunt had assured him that he would do everything he could during their meeting at the Foreign Office.
And BBC diplomatic correspondent Paul Adams tweeted that things "seemed a little more positive" for Hedges, sources at the Foreign Office suggesting that there had been an "olive branch" "Emirati Minister of Foreign Affairs.
"The UAE may feel that after allowing the judicial process to take its course, the time has come to be magnanimous and not to risk a real diplomatic break with a close and important ally," he said. -he adds.
Thursday night, Mr. Hunt tweeted he had just had a constructive conversation with UAE FM [Foreign Minister] Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed ".
"I believe and believe that he is working hard to resolve the situation as quickly as possible," he said.
"We have a close partnership with the UAE that will help us get things done."
Mr. Hunt met with Ms. Tejada following her criticism that the British government had not taken a firm stance towards the UAE.
However, after speaking, Ms. Tejada thanked the Minister of Foreign Affairs for "taking the time" to meet her at "this crucial point".
"He assured me that he and his team were doing everything possible to free Matt and take him home," she said.
"This is not a fight that I can win alone and I thank the Foreign Office and the British public for defending now one of their citizens."
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Political scientist Mr. Hedges, originally from Exeter, had gone to the country to conduct a study on the security strategy of the United Arab Emirates as part of his doctoral dissertation when he was stopped at Dubai airport.
Prosecutors said he had confessed to spying.
The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the country was "determined to protect its important strategic relationship with a key ally" and added that he hoped the two sides could find "an amicable solution" at the time. ;case.
The country's Attorney General, Dr. Hamad Saif Al Shamsi, has previously stated that Mr. Hedges has the right to appeal.
Abdulla Al Naqbi, head of the Ministry's Legal Affairs Department, said that "families also have the right to appeal for presidential clemency on behalf of the condemned relatives".
In a statement, Mr. Al Naqbi stated that "convincing and powerful evidence was presented in court" and that this included Mr. Hedges' own confession.
Mr. Hedges was offered, and accepted, the services of an attorney-at-law, as well as translators, he said.
"It is not true that he was asked to sign documents that he did not understand," said Al Naqbi.
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