DUSHANBE, April 16, 2013, Asia-Plus – Officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States will provide only technical assistance in the search for two Dushanbe cousins, Olimjon Samiyev, an expert in security issues, told Asia-Plus Tuesday afternoon.

“Representatives from Kazakhstan FBI Office will arrive here with their equipment and provide both technical and consultative assistance to the Tajik Interior Ministry in the search for the missing girls,” said Samiyev.

He also pointed to the necessity on adoption of a law on private security and crime detection agencies.   “In some cases, the private crime detection agencies are more effective that the state-run law enforcement agencies, overloaded with administrative work,” Samiyev noted.

We will recall that according to information posted on the Interior Ministry’s website, U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan, Mrs. Susan Elliot, has raised the possibility the FBI could help in the search for two Tajik girls who have been missing since the end of March.

Ambassador Elliot reportedly made the offer during a meeting with Tajik Interior Minister Ramazon Rahimov on April 14, where the two were discussing security and combating terrorism, drug trafficking, and other crime.

Ambassador Elliot said the FBI had extensive experience in searching for missing persons and modern technologies to aid in the search.

Cousins Malika, 6, and Sabina, 6, Aralova were last seen on March 25 when they were playing in the yard at the Ayni Street in Dushanbe.  Their parents reported their missing to the police station in Dushanbe’s Shohmansour district on the same day.

Interior Minister Ramazon Rahimov has reportedly taken a search operation for the missing girls under his personal control and the Ministry of Interior offers a reward for information about them.