President installs 13 Indonesian envoys

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid swore in on Tuesday 13 new Indonesian ambassadors, including former Air Force chief of staff Air Marshal (ret) Sutria Tubagus and East Timor prointegration leader Lopez da Cruz.

Sutria was made the new ambassador to Thailand replacing Vice Marshal (ret) Isbandi Gondo, and Da Cruz replaces Samsubahri Siregar as ambassador to Greece.

Also attending the ceremony at Bina Graha presidential office were First Lady Sinta Nuriyah and Minister of Foreign Affairs Alwi Shihab.

Veteran diplomat Anak Agung Gde Raka was appointed ambassador to Bulgaria, replacing R. Suharjono.

A high-ranking official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hadi A. Wayarabi Alhadar, was named ambassador to Malaysia, replacing Maj. Gen. (ret) M. Jacob Dasto. Nazaruddin Nasution replaced Hamid Alhadad as ambassador to Cambodia.

Several career diplomats were also promoted, including Witjaksana Sugarda who replaced Andjar Soedjito Mangkoewijoto as ambassador to Denmark and Lithuania.

Other new ambassadors included Ibrahim Yusuf (United Arab Emirates), Widodo Sutiyo (the Vatican), Ahmad Fauzie Gani (Finland and Estonia), Maj. Gen. (ret) Syam Soemanagara (Lebanon), Jack Said Gaffar (Pakistan), Ridwan Yahya (Senegal and Gambia) and Yulwis Yatim (Yemen).(byg)