Britain's ambassador to Uzbekistan has been withdrawn from his post for "operational reasons" following a series of public differences of opinion with his employers.
Craig Murray has courted controversy since being appointed to the embassy in Tashkent in 2002 by publicly accusing the Uzbek government of torturing political and religious prisoners.
Earlier this week, details were revealed of a furious memo he sent to the Foreign Office, complaining that the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) was using information passed on to it by the CIA but originally obtained in Uzbek torture cells.
As well as being morally and legally wrong, the practice was unreliable because prisoners under torture could be expected to say whatever their tormentors wanted to hear, he warned.
And he wrote: "We are selling our souls for dross."
...Mr Murray caused a stir by speaking out publicly in 2002 about brutality in Uzbek jails, highlighting the case of two men who were boiled to death.
Independent News articleCraig Murray has courted controversy since being appointed to the embassy in Tashkent in 2002 by publicly accusing the Uzbek government of torturing political and religious prisoners.
Earlier this week, details were revealed of a furious memo he sent to the Foreign Office, complaining that the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) was using information passed on to it by the CIA but originally obtained in Uzbek torture cells.
As well as being morally and legally wrong, the practice was unreliable because prisoners under torture could be expected to say whatever their tormentors wanted to hear, he warned.
And he wrote: "We are selling our souls for dross."
...Mr Murray caused a stir by speaking out publicly in 2002 about brutality in Uzbek jails, highlighting the case of two men who were boiled to death.
At least Mr. Murray has kept his soul. I don't know what Bush and Blair got for theirs, but I doubt they were worth dross.
Uzbek is our buddy. So if they boil people in Uzbekistan, I take that to mean it's okay. I assume the rendered fat is valuable. Maybe that's what we'll be replacing oil with when we run out.
Mr Murray - who was not invited to the meeting - alleged that the country's hard-line president, Islam Karimov, was seeking to portray his Government's suppression of Islamists as part of the global war against international terrorism.
And he warned: "Tortured dupes are forced to sign confessions showing what the Uzbek Government wants the US and UK to believe - that they and we are fighting the same war against terror.
"This is morally, legally and practically wrong."
And he warned: "Tortured dupes are forced to sign confessions showing what the Uzbek Government wants the US and UK to believe - that they and we are fighting the same war against terror.
"This is morally, legally and practically wrong."
Well, Mr. Murray, the US and UK have no use for morality. Morality doesn't fill the coffers, now, does it? It doesn't get you elected to high office, now, does it? Go sit on the sidelines, Mr. Murray. And keep your mouth shut if you want to stay alive. We might not yet be able to boil you here or in London, but there are still flights to Uzbekistan.
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
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