Habibie appoints 15 new ambassadors

Habibie appoints 15 new ambassadors

JAKARTA (JP): President B.J. Habibie swore in 15 ambassadors
on Tuesday, including two senior diplomats and former Air Force
chief Marshall (ret) Rilo Pambudi.

Secretary-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Abdul
Irsan was appointed the envoy to the Netherlands in the ceremony
at the State Palace.

The ministry's director general for foreign economic
relations, Soemadi D.M. Brotodiningrat, will serve in the
country's most important trading partner and biggest creditor,
Japan.

Soemadi's appointment was a surprise because the President had
reportedly decided in August to assign his friend, Wardiman
Djojonegoro, a former education minister.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas strongly promoted
Soemadi for the Tokyo post.

Habibie also reportedly planned to nominate his younger
brother, Junus Effendy Habibie, a former ambassador to Britain,
to Germany. He dropped Wardiman and Junus from the list following
a public outcry.

Rilo was appointed ambassador to Spain, and Vice Admiral (ret)
Soegiono was posted to Iran.

Harijanto Soeprapto is the new ambassador in Chile, Zainuddin
Nasution in Laos, Subagiyo Wiryohadisubroto in Suriname and
Hadiatmo Harsojo in Ethiopia.

Rahardjo Djojonegoro, Buchari Effendi and Mohammad Saleh were
respectively appointed the ambassadors to Brunei, the Korean
People's Democratic Republic and Sri Lanka.

Jacky Djumantara Wahyu was installed as envoy to Turkey,
Harsoyo Sudirman to South Africa, and Dino Erwin to Algeria and
Mali.

Rhousdy Soeriaatmadja will be soon posted to Austria, where he
will also serve as the country's permanent representative to the
United Nations. (prb)