FORMER TONGA PM ENVOY TO MALAYSIA

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26 (Bernama) -- Crown Prince Tupouto'a Lavaka, a former
prime minister of Tonga, was among the seven foreign envoys who presented their
credentials to Malaysian King Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin at the Istana
Negara (National Palace) here Thursday.

Lavaka, 51, who is the High Commissioner of Tonga to Malaysia, is the
youngest son of the late king of Tonga, Taufa'ahau Tupou IV.

The other envoys who presented their credentials are Turkmenistan's
Ambassador Parahat Hommadowich Durdyev; Malta's High Commissioner John M. Rizzo
Naudi Junior; Cyprus's High Commissioner Nafsika Krousti; Pakistan's High
Commissioner Masood Khalid; Kenya's High Commissioner Samori Ang'wa Okwiya and
Canada's High Commissioner Randolph B. Mank.

Lavaka holds bachelor's degrees in defence and international relations, and
has also held the posts of minister of civil aviation, minister of
communication, and minister for foreign affairs and defence between 1999 and
2004.

Durdyev, 42, was deputy chief of the National Bureau of Interpol in the
Ministry of the Interior of Turkmenistan in 2006 and 2007.

A graduate of the Turkmen State University, he has held the post of foreign
minister and also that of first secretary at his country's missions in China
and Austria between 1992 and 2006.

Rizzo Naudi Junior, 56, who was born in Kuala Lumpur on Oct 8, 1954,
succeeds his father Prof John Rizzo Naudi who was Malta's High Commissioner to
Malaysia since July 2001.

He holds a degree in Civil and Structural Engineering from the City
University of London and is a member of the board of directors of the Kordin
Grain Terminal Company and a member of the HSBC Bank Panel of Architects in
Malta.

Krousti, 53, who holds a Master of Arts degree in English, takes over from
Adreas Zenonos who completed the term of office as Cyprus's high commissioner
in August last year.

Krousti has served at the embassies of Cyprus in the United Kingdom, the
Netherlands and Poland prior to his appointment as the Cyprus High Commissioner
to India in September last year.

Khalid, 55, who holds a Masters degree in international relations, succeeds
Lt Gen Tahir Mahmud Qazi who concluded his term of office as Pakistan's high
commissioner to Malaysia in January.

Khalid had served his country's ambassador to South Korea (2005-2007), as a
senior government official in New York (2001-2005) and as director-general in
the Foreign Ministry (2000-2001).

Mank, 56, was appointed as the Canadian high commissioner to Malaysia to
succeed David B. Collis whose term of office ended in August last year.

Mank, who holds a Ph.D in Economics from the London School of Economics, has
served as his country's high commissioner to Pakistan (2008-2010) and as
ambassador to Indonesia (2003-2006).
-- BERNAMA
FR