Britain 'optimistic' in academic jailed in UAE: Hunt

Britain's foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt said on Sunday he was optimistic that progress could be made in the case of Matthew Hedges, a British academic jailed for life in the United Arab Emirates on spying charges on Wednesday.

"I am more optimistic as we sit here now that we can find a way through this," he told the BBC's Andrew Marr show. "The UAE is a very longstanding friend of the UK and I've had very good conversations with their foreign minister; I am going to speak to him again this afternoon."

(With inputs from agencies.)