Craig Murray

Former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan

Craig Murray

Personal Biography

Craig Murray was born in West Runton, Near Cromer, Norfolk, UK in October 1958 and educated at Sheringham Primary and Paston Grammar schools.

He graduated from the University of Dundee in 1982 with a MA (Hons) 1st Class in Modern History.

From 1982 to 1984 he was President of Dundee University Students Association and he was a member of Dundee’s tournament winning Granada TV University Challenge team in 1983.

Professional Biography

In 1984 he joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. As a member of the Diplomatic Service his responsibilities included the following:

• 1986-9 Second Secretary, Commercial, British High Commission, Lagos Responsible for promoting British exports to, and business interests in, Nigeria.
• 1989-92 Head of Maritime Section, FCO, London Responsible for negotiation of the UK and Dependent Territory continental shelf and fisheries boundaries, for implementation of the Channel Tunnel treaty and for negotiations on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
• From August 1990 to August 1991 he was also head of the FCO Section of the Embargo Surveillance Centre, responsible for intelligence analysis on Iraqi attempts at evading sanctions, particularly in the field of weapons procurement, and with providing information to UK military forces and to other governments to effect physical enforcement of the embargo.
• 1992-4 Head of Cyprus Section, FCO London Responsible for UN negotiations on the Cyprus dispute, relations with the government of Cyprus and for the mandate and requirements of the British contingent of the UN force in Cyprus,
• 1994-7 First Secretary (Political and Economic), British Embassy, Warsaw Head of the Political and Economic sections of our Embassy in Poland. Responsible for relations with Poland, and assisting Poland’s post-communist transition process with reference to preparation for EU membership.
• 1997-8 Deputy Head, Africa Department (Equatorial), Foreign and Commonwealth Office Responsible for British political and commercial relationships with West Africa, including development issues.
• 1998-2002 Deputy High Commissioner, British High Commission, West Africa Branch Responsible for British economic, political, commercial and aid relationships with Ghana and Togo. In Autumn 1998 Craig Murray was the UK Representative at the Sierra Leone Peace talks held in Togo, Liberia and Sierra Leone, including direct negotiation with the RUF terrorist leadership.
• 2002-2004 British Ambassador, Uzbekistan Responsible for our relationship with Uzbekistan. He found Western support for the dictatorial Karimov regime unconscionable, as detailed on his website

At the 2005 UK General Election, Craig Murray took on Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in Blackburn as an Independent candidate, winning 2,082 votes.

See Also

• Craig Murray Wikipedia page
• Vicious Cycles (US Wars and War Crimes From Vietnam to Iraq) - A radio show featuring Craig Murray on why he resigned as UK ambassador to Uzbekistan