Murray, Craig 1958-

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Murray, Craig 1958-

PERSONAL:

Born October, 1958, in West Runton, Norfolk, England; divorced. Education: University of Dundee, M.A. (honors), 1982.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Craig Murray Campaign, 31 Sinclair Gardens, West Kensington, London W14 0AU, England. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Diplomat. Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 1984; British High Commission, Lagos, Nigeria, Second Secretary, Commercial, 1986-89; Foreign and Commonwealth Office, maritime section, London, England, head, 1989-92; Cyprus section, head, 1992-94; British Embassy, Warsaw, Poland, first secretary (political and economic), 1994-97; Foreign and Com- monwealth Office, African department, deputy head, 1997-98; British High Commission, West Africa Branch, deputy high commissioner, 1998-2002; British ambassador to Uzbekistan, 2002-04; Member of Parliament, 2005; University of Dundee, Scotland, rector.

WRITINGS:

Murder in Samarkand: A British Ambassador's Controversial Defiance of Tyranny in the War on Terror, Mainstream Pub. (Edinburgh, Scotland), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Craig Murray was born in October of 1958 in West Runton, England. He received an M.A. in modern history in 1982 from the University of Dundee in Dundee, Scotland. In 1984 he joined the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office and began his diplomatic career. He served in British embassies in Nigeria, Cyprus, Poland, Ghana, Togo, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. He was British ambassador to Uzbekistan from 2002 to 2004, but was discharged from office over disagreements with the British government about their support of the dictatorial Karimov regime. After leaving government employ, he was elected to the post of rector at the University of Dundee.

Murray had been a diplomat for twenty years when he became ambassador to Uzbekistan in 2002. His personal behavior was indulgent and distasteful, but when he became aware of the extreme violence and corruption of the tyrannical government of President Karimov, he began to complain to other diplomats about it. He was told to keep quiet, that the British and U.S. governments were supporting Karimov both morally and financially because he claimed to be fighting terrorists and Muslim extremism. Murray was even more horrified, however, when he discovered that so-called "terrorists" were being tortured for confessions and information, and that this dubious information was being passed to the CIA as solid facts, which the U.S. government was using for policy decisions.

Murder in Samarkand: A British Ambassador's Controversial Defiance of Tyranny in the War on Terror is Murray's account of this covert operation, his public outing of it, and the consequences he suffered. As he became aware of the lies and corruption of the Karimov regime, he saw that not only was an entire country living in fear, but government officials were draining financial resources meant to support the establishment of British business. When he understood the deceit behind the torture program and the complicity of British and U.S. governments, his disgust was overwhelming.

Instead of playing along with the deceit, he not only complained to diplomats, but directly confronted Uzbek officials with their crimes. He ultimately brought the issues into the public forum by giving an inflammatory speech, directly following an American diplomat praising the Uzbek government for its progress, in which he famously stated, "Uzbekistan is not a functioning democracy, nor does it appear to be moving in the direction of democracy." For this insubordination he was recalled from his post, and brought up on charges for unrelated and minor actions in a government effort to discredit him.

Unfortunately, Murray's personal life gave the British government ammunition against him. He was, by his own account, an unsavory character, drinking too much, visiting disreputable nightspots, and indulging in extramarital affairs. This behavior was trumped, however, by the truth of his allegations, and during the publicity surrounding the scandal he received enormous support for his political stand from fellow diplomats, the press, and the public, and the charges against him were eventually dropped.

Critics were enthralled by Murray's story. Liadnan called Murder in Samarkand "a fascinating read" in a review for the Sharpener, and Justin Marozzi, in his review for Spectator, said it was "an important and well-told story from a frontline on the war on terror."

Dirty Diplomacy: The Rough-and-tumble Adventures of a Scotch-drinking, Skirt-chasing, Dictator-busting and Thoroughly Unrepentant Ambassador Stuck on the Frontline of the War against Terror continues Murray's story and adds details about the criminal actions of the Karimov government, as well as covering Murray's return to Uzbekistan where he continued to publicize conditions there until the government finally fired him. The critic for Kirkus Reviews declared: "Murray may be a pompous, conceited windbag, but that doesn't keep him from being absolutely right in his moral convictions." Dirty Diplomacy was called "an electrifying read" by Donna Seaman in her review for Booklist, and Tara McKelvey, writing for the New York Times, commented: "He manages to present startling facts about Uzbekistan." Robert Legvold's review for Foreign Affairs concluded with the comment that Murray "provides a sharp-edged account of it all."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Asian Affairs, March 1, 2007, Paul Bergne, review of Murder in Samarkand: A British Ambassador's Controversial Defiance of Tyranny in the War on Terror, p. 97.

Booklist, September 15, 2007, Donna Seaman, review of Dirty Diplomacy: The Rough-and-tumble Adventures of a Scotch-drinking, Skirt-chasing, Dictator-busting and Thoroughly Unrepentant Ambassador Stuck on the Frontline of the War against Terror, p. 19.

Foreign Affairs, May 1, 2008, Robert Legvold, review of Dirty Diplomacy.

Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2007, review of Dirty Diplomacy.

Publishers Weekly, August 13, 2007, review of Dirty Diplomacy, p. 55.

Spectator, July 29, 2006, "Plain Speaking and Hard Drinking."