Former Foreign Minister Ali Alatas dies at 76

11 December 2008
The Jakarta Post

Former foreign minister Ali Alatas died of a heart attack on Thursday morning at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore. He was 76.

Ali's daughter Soraya said her father had passed away at around 7.30 a.m. Jakarta time.

"We don't know when his body will be returned to Jakarta," Soraya said during a phone conversation with Tempointeraktif.com.

Ali was born in Jakarta on Nov. 5, 1932. In his late teenage years, Ali became a journalist for the Niewsgierf daily (1952) and worked as an editor for Aneta News Portal (1953-54).

Following his marriage at the age of twenty two, Ali was assigned as secretary II in Bangkok (1956-1960), after which he held the post of information and cultural relations director at the Foreign Ministry (1965-66), going on to become a councilor at the Indonesian Embassy in Washington D.C. (1966-70).

Upon his return to Indonesia, Ali was again appointed director of information and cultural relations, a post he held from 1970-72. He was later appointed secretary of the Foreign Ministry Directorate General (1972-75), following which he became a member of special staff and head of the Foreign Ministry's private secretariat (1975-76).

Ali became the permanent representative of the Republic of Indonesia to the UN in Geneva from 1976-78 and, on his return, was secretary to the vice president for four years. He was reassigned as Indonesia's permanent representative from 1983-87 -- this time in New York.

Most recently, Ali was appointed as foreign minister for four administrative terms spanning 1987-99, under presidents Soeharto and Habibie. (dre)