Hasjim, Wisber named ambassadors

Hasjim, Wisber named ambassadors

JAKARTA (JP): Hasjim Djalal and Wisber Loeis, two senior
Indonesian diplomats, were inducted as ambassadors by President
Soeharto, along with 14 others at the State Palace yesterday.

Hasjim, formerly the Indonesian ambassador to Germany, was
named ambassador-at-large to specifically deal with the UN
Convention on Law of the Sea.

Hasjim, an expert in international maritime law, played a
prominent role in Indonesia's successful campaign to win
international recognition of its archipelagic state concept. The
concept recognizes Indonesia's sovereignty over the waters that
lie between the 17,000 islands that span the archipelago.

Wisber, currently the director general for external economic
relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has been assigned
as ambassador to Japan.

His appointment is believed to be connected with Japan's
hosting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings
later this year. Wisber has been one of the Indonesian officials
most involved with APEC since its establishment six years ago.

Among the other 14 new ambassadors, two were retired Armed
Forces officers.

Army Maj. Gen. (ret.) Soelarso Haknyosoebroto, formerly East
Java governor, was inducted as ambassador to Turkey and
Azerbaijan. He will be based in Ankara.

Navy Vice Admiral Sumitro, formerly inspector general of the
Armed Forces, is now ambassador to Iran.

The other 12 new appointments went to career diplomats. They
are:

Rachadi Iskandar as ambassador to South Africa. He is
secretary at the directorate general for external economic
relations.

Noor Handono as ambassador to Chile. He is director for
international trade relations,

R. Suharjono as ambassador to the Vatican. He is the head of
the Bureau of Organizations.

Koesnadi Poedjiwinarto as ambassador to Brunei. He is director
for Asia-Pacific affairs.

Herry Haryono as ambassador for Laos. He is director for
economic technical and services cooperation.

Eddy Sumantri as ambassador to Jordan. He is director for the
Data Processing Center.

Rochsjad Dahlan as ambassador to Ethiopia and Eritrea based in
Addis Ababa.

Suwardi Wusono as ambassador to Suriname. He is inspector for
development project.

Witjaksana Soegarda as ambassador to Italy and Albania based
in Rome. He is deputy chief at the Indonesian permanent
representative office at the United Nations.

Lillahi Grahana Sidharta as ambassador to Algeria. He is
consulate general in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Junizar Jacub as ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives based in
Colombo. He is secretary at the directorate general for protocol
and consular affairs.

Zulkarnain Afri Pane as ambassador to North Korea. He is head
of the documentation and library center at the ministry's
Research and Development Agency. (emb)