Five names considered for ambassadorial post

Five names considered for ambassadorial post

JAKARTA (JP): Speculation about who is going to become
Indonesia's ambassador to Australia surfaced again after
Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono disclosed on Wednesday that
five names are now being considered for the post.

Moerdiono declined to give the five names, saying that they
include civilian and military figures and that a decision would
be made before the end of the year.

One of the often-mentioned names is Theo Sambuaga, a Golkar
member of the House of Representatives, while the name of the
chief editor of the Republika daily newspaper, Parni Hadi, has
also come up.

Other names suggested include former East Nusa Tenggara
governor Ben Mboi and Juwono Sudarsono, the deputy governor of
the National Resilience Institute. One or two senior diplomats at
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have also been suggested for the
position.

The post in Canberra has been vacant since ambassador Sabam
Siagian ended his term in July.

Indonesia withdrew its candidate, Lt. Gen. H.B.L. Mantiri, at
the last minute because of a controversy in Australia concerning
remarks he purportedly made to the press about an incident in
East Timor in 1991.

During their meeting in Bali in September, President Soeharto
and Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating agreed that the post
should be filled in the not too distant future.

Meanwhile, H.B.L. Mantiri is now being considered for the
ambassadorial post in Singapore, according to Tiras magazine.

Mantiri is one of several senior Army officers who will
officially be retired at a major sending off ceremony at the
Military Academy in Magelang, Central Java, on Saturday.

The other retiring officers include former Army chief of staff
Gen. Wismoyo Arismunandar, former chief of the military
intelligence agency Lt. Gen. Arie Sudewo, Maj. Gen. Bantu
Hardjijo, Maj. Gen. Aspar Aswin, Maj. Gen. Rusmadi Sidik and
Maj. Gen. Yusman Yutam. (emb)