President appoints 10 new ambassadors

JAKARTA (JP): President B.J. Habibie swore in 10 new ambassadors at the State Palace on Friday, including incumbent Presidential Household Chief Maftuh Basyuni and Lt. Gen. Luhut Binsar Panjaitan.

Basyuni was appointed as the new ambassador to Kuwait and Bahrain, while Panjaitan will be posted as ambassador to Singapore.

Basyuni, who is fluent in Arabic, attracted then president Soeharto's attention when he served as interpreter during his haj pilgrim to Mecca in 1991. Not long after, Soeharto promoted Basyuni to his current post. He will replace envoy D. Soesjono.

Panjaitan's latest position was as commander of the Army Training Center in Bandung, West Java. He is the brother-in-law of noted economist Sjahrir. His wife Kartini is Sjahrir's elder sister.

He will replace outgoing ambassador Lt. Gen. H.B.L. Mantiri who has held the position since 1996.

Not long after replacing Soeharto in May last year, the President planned to nominate Ruhut Sitompoel, a lawyer and an executive of the Pemuda Pancasila organization, as ambassador to Singapore, replacing Mantiri.

Alatas reportedly opposed the plan because it would have been an embarrassment for Singapore. Habibie has openly expressed his dissatisfaction with Singapore because the government was late in congratulating him after he rose to the presidency in May.

Habibie upset Singaporeans when he described Singapore as "a red dot" in an interview with The Asian Wall Street Journal last August.

Apart from Panjaitan and Basyuni, the President also installed senior diplomat Arizal Effendy as ambassador to Australia, replacing Wiryono Sastrohandojo.

Edhimurti Sunoko will replace Eddy Sumantri for Jordan, Nasaruddin Mochtar Koro will replace Poerwanto Lenggono for Myanmar and Nepal. Zakaria Soemintaatmadja will substitute Gatot Suwardi for India, M. Wasal Falah will serve in Columbia and R. Haridadi Sudjono in Cuba. (prb)