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)