Djafar Assegaf Passes Away

Jakarta, June 12 (Antara) - The death of Djafar Assegaf, a noted Indonesian press figure and diplomat, is a loss to the nation, Secretary General of the National Democratic (NasDem) Party Patrice Rio Capella said here on Wednesday. "We have lost a true patriot of the press and a nationalist, who had enthusiastically encouraged the younger generation to maintain the unitary state of Indonesia based on the unity in diversity," Capella told Antara. Capella said Assegaf had often recalled his struggle since the Japanese colonial era to young people and that made him very proud of the senior journalist. "We express our condolences for the death of the noted press figure. We pray for his soul and we hope his family to be patient and strong," he said. Capella and Chairman of the NasDem Party Surya Paloh were scheduled to pay their last respect to Assegaf in his residence. Djafar Assegaf passed away on Wednesday at 5 a.m. local time at Mitra Kemayoran Hospital. His body would be buried at Kalibata Heroes` Cemetery on Wednesday afternoon. He was Indonesia`s ambassador to Vietnam, a lecturer at the University of Indonesia (UI), and deputy managing director of Antara News Agency as well as Media Indonesia.