SEVEN ENVOYS RECEIVE LETTERS OF APPOINTMENT

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 15 (Bernama) -- Malaysian King Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin
presented letters of appointment to seven Malaysian envoys-designate at Istana
Negara (National Palace) here Thursday.

Salman Ahmad and Selwyn Viyarajan Das received their letters of appointment
as High Commissioners to Australia and Canada respectively.

The others were Saw Ching Hong, as ambassador to Kazakhstan, Abd Malek Abdul
Aziz (Jordan), Ramlan Ibrahim (South Korea), Nazarudin Salleh (Timur Leste) and
Zainal Abidin Bakar (Czech Republic).

Present were Deputy Foreign Minister Abdul Rahim Bakri and the ministry's
Secretary-General, Rastam Mohd Isa.

Salman, 54, was ambassador to the Czech Republic prior to his present
appointment while Selwyn, 55, had served as Administrative and Diplomatic
officer in the Prime Minister's Department before being transferred to the
Foreign Ministry as Principal Assistant Secretary in 2000.

Saw, 59, was ambassador to Serbia in 2004 and extended his career as a
diplomat on contract this year.

Abd Malek, 52, had been with the Foreign Ministry since 1981 and had served
as Malaysia's representative in five countries -- France, Hungary, Australia,
Singapore and Bangladesh.

Ramlan Ibrahim, 52, was assistant director in the Public Service Department
before his transfer to the Foreign Ministry as assistant secretary in 1986 while
Nazarudin, 56, was appointed minister counsellor at the Malaysian High
Commission in Pretoria, South Africa, in 2005.

Zainal Abidin Bakar, 48, had been minister counsellor at the Malaysian
embassy in Brussels since 2002.
-- BERNAMA