On 20 September 2006, Marat Khalturdiev, the head of the National Security Service's regional branch, described Karimov's disappearance as "a private affair" and said nothing more. Elin Jonsson, a freelance Swedish journalist who specializes in Central Asian affairs, who knew both Karimov and Khaidarov, said that earlier in the year they had told her they were worried about their safety, and that they were going to try to get a visa for Sweden. Both men were reporting for the website ferghana.ru and the Institute for War and Peace Reporting.