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)