New military chief for northern Sumatra

MEDAN (JP): Army Chief Gen. Subagyo Hadisiswoyo installed Maj. Gen. Ismed Yuzairi yesterday as new commander of the Bukit Barisan Military Command overseeing Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra and Riau.

Ismed replaced Maj. Gen. Rizal Nurdin, who has been nominated for the North Sumatra governorship, currently under Let. Gen. (ret.) Radja Inal Siregar.

Subagyo, speaking in the ceremony at the command's headquarters here, reminded the unit to maintain its alertness to problems with the potential to disrupt stability in the region.

"All military personnel in the region are expected to be able to detect any social problems that could disrupt stability in the region," he said.

Also attending the ceremony were outgoing governor Radja Inal Siregar, Army Inspector General Maj. Gen. Nurdin Yusuf, Maj. Gen. Yudomo, assistant to the Army chief on intelligence affairs, and Chief of the Army's special force (Kopassus), Maj. Gen. Muchdi P.R.

Ismed promised to work hard to meet the expectations placed on him.

Born in Sawahlunto, West Sumatra, in 1949, Ismed graduated from the Army Academy in 1971. Before assuming his new post, he spent much of his career in the Army Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad). He was commander of a Kostrad infantry brigade battalion in 1987 and its former chief of staff.

Rizal graduated from the Military Academy in 1971. He is former chief of Kostrad's Division I, former chief of a Kostrad infantry brigade in Jember, East Java, and former assistant to the chief of staff of the Sriwijaya Military Command in Palembang, South Sumatra.

He has won support from the Armed Forces, Golkar and Indonesian Democratic Party factions in the North Sumatra provincial legislative council for his nomination to the leadership of the province. Siregar's term of office will end this June. (21/rms)