TNI APPRECIATES INDONESIAN OFFICER'S APPOINTMENT TO UNIFIL POST

Jakarta, Aug 26 (ANTARA) - Indonesia's National Defense Forces (TNI) appreciates the opportunity the United Nations is giving to an Indonesian military officer to serve as a director in UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon), a spokesman said.

"Yes. It is all still being processed but we really appreciate the opportunity," TNI's chief spokesman Rear Marshal Sagom Tamboen said here on Wednesday.

Indonesia's foreign ministry had earlier announced the UN had confirmed that Major General Zahari Siregar had been tipped to become director of the Strategic Military Cell (SMC) of the UNIFIL which has its headquarters in New York.

The appointment followed a UN request to Indonesia to name a candidate for the post, the ministry's director of international security and disarmament, Fikry Cassidy, said.

Major General Zahari Siregar used to be the head of the TNI's Main Peacekeeping Mission.

Fikry said the UNIFIL's SMC director had the task of among others formulating strategic policies to be implemented by the UNIFIL to make its mission to create peace and security stability in South Lebanon successful.

He said the UN had only established the SMC during its peace mission in South Lebanon. It is not found in other UN peace missions in other countries, he said.

Indonesia has the largest number of troops in the UN peace mission in South Lebanon after France and Italy.