work in mid-November 2003. Only a few days after his return to Uzbekistan, Murray suffered another health crisis and was again flown back to London for medical treatment for what turned out to have been a near-fatal pulmonary embolism on a lung. Around the same time, a group of more than a dozen British expatriates in Tashkent, including businessmen, wrote to the Foreign Secretary Jack Straw defending Murray as an advocate for inward British trade. One of the co-signers of the letter said there was a "common belief that Mr Murray is being sacrificed to the Americans". Members of Ozod Ovoz (Free Voice), a free speech group in the country pleaded with Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair for Murray to remain in his post as he was "an example for other ambassadors". Murray's stance was also supported by Clare Short, then a former Secretary of State for International Development, and Daniel Hannan, the Conservative Member of the European Parliament (MEP). The FCO exonerated Murray of all 18 charges in January 2004 after a four-month investigation but reprimanded him for speaking about them. Speaking in the House of Commons, the Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell said the government "endorse his comments about the human rights situation in Uzbekistan". Removal from post Murray was removed from his post in October 2004, shortly after the Financial Times leak which, Murray later told Amy Goodman, he thought had been leaked by the British government to incriminate him. The FCO denied any direct connection and stated that Murray had been suspended for disciplinary reasons after he gave a series of media interviews criticising the FCO. He was suspended, amid claims that he had lost the confidence of senior officials and colleagues. The following day, in an interview on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Murray countered that he was a "victim of conscience", although he did not then believe the Americans were involved. A week later he was accused of "gross misconduct" by the FCO. A spokesman said "He is suspended on full pay pending an investigation into his conduct. I think it is more what he said than giving interviews" to the media. In February 2005, Murray took a severance package from the FCO, most of which was used to pay tax and fund his divorce. A later report by European investigators found that Uzbekistan was used as a base in the American