The Mail on Sunday

She wanted to drive stake through rival’s heart, says ex-ambassador

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AN EXTRA, bizarre element has been added to the saga surroundin­g Alex Salmond’s claims by the interventi­on of Craig Murray, the controvers­ial former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan. He has released a signed affidavit based on conversati­ons with Mr Salmond, which blames a close colleague of Ms Sturgeon for orchestrat­ing the campaign against the former First Minister.

It includes claims that police had interviewe­d more than 400 people as part of a ‘fishing expedition’ against him, including one woman who had been seen ‘kissing him on the cheek’ in a hotel foyer and had told the officers that it was a ‘perfectly normal greeting’. Mr Salmond’s personal protection officers were also interviewe­d and, according to Mr Murray, ‘all said they had seen him doing nothing wrong’.

The testimony claims that Ms Sturgeon wanted to place a ‘stake through the heart’ of Mr Salmond to end any threat to her leadership.

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