Craig Murray

Craig Murray
Craig Murray delivers an address on 23 September 2006 aboard a Peace Train on the subject of Afghanistan.
Personal details
Born	(1958-10-17) 17 October 1958 (age 58) West Runton, Norfolk, England
Nationality	English
Education	MA (Hons), University of Dundee
Occupation	Political activist Former ambassador
Website	craigmurray.org.uk

Craig John Murray (born 17 October 1958) is a former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, and was the Rector of the University of Dundee (2007–10).

While Ambassador in Tashkent, he accused the Karimov administration of human rights violations, which he argued was contrary to the wishes of the British government. Murray complained to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in November 2002, January or early February 2003, and in June 2004 that intelligence linking the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan to al-Qaeda was unreliable, immoral and illegal, as it was thought to have been obtained through torture. He described this as "selling our souls for dross". He was removed from his ambassadorial post on 14 October 2004. Murray attributed this to his complaints about human rights violations.

Murray was born in West Runton, Norfolk, and grew up in neighbouring Sheringham. He was educated at Sheringham Primary and then at Paston School (now known as Paston College), an all-boys state grammar school in North Walsham in Norfolk, where Murray says he had an undistinguished record. From his own account in The Independent, the school was run on "military lines", with formal teaching and rote learning, and Murray was suspended "mostly for refusing to turn up for the cadets", which was a compulsory obligation for pupils.

According to his blog, Murray joined the Liberal Party in 1973, refounding, with two others, the defunct North Norfolk constituency Liberal party. Murray wrote to the Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe to request a candidate. Thorpe's private secretary, Richard Moore, read the letter and volunteered himself to be the candidate. On arrival in Sheringham, he was surprised to find his sponsor was 15 years old. Moore (father of journalist Charles Moore) fought North Norfolk in both 1974 elections, the first Liberal to fight North Norfolk for several elections.