Bimantoro's embarrassing trip

JAKARTA: National Police Chief Bimantoro Surojo's trip to Cyprus last week took an embarrassing turn.

After Bimantoro had informed the Indonesian embassy in Damascus, Syria, which covers Cyprus, of his planned visit to Nicosia, Indonesian diplomats managed to arrange a meeting between him and his Cypriot counterpart.

But Bimantoro then asked for the appointment to be canceled, because his four day visit to Cyprus was only for pleasure, said Benny Siahaan, spokesman for the Indonesian embassy for Syria and Cyprus.

Siahaan said that a visiting official would usually meet his or her host country counterpart. "So as soon as we were advised of his trip, we took the initiative to arrange a meeting between the two police chiefs." -- Antara