Appointments (June, 2001) Embassy of Finland • Tuula Yrjö Koskinen has assumed the post of cultural counselor. • Anneli Kristiina Halonen has left the post of cultural counselor. Embassy of Syria • Rostom Al-Zoubi was accredited in March as ambassador of the Syrian Arab Republic in Washington, D.C. Ambassador Al-Zoubi had been serving as charge d’affaires in Washington since January 2000. The ambassador has been a career diplomat since joining the Syrian foreign service in 1974. He has served as charge d’ affaires in South Africa and Cyprus. He also served in the Syrian embassies in London, Budapest and Kuwait.The ambassador was born in Ezrra Dara, Syria in 1945. He received his bachelor of arts degree in English literature from the University of Damascus in 1973 and his doctorate in the history of international relations from Moscow University in 1992. He is married with four children. Embassy of Venezuela • Ignacio Arcayo has assumed the post of ambassador to the United States. He replaces Ambassador Alfredo Toro Hardy. Ambassador Arcayo has had a long and distinguished political and diplomatic career. He served previously as permanent representative of Venezuela to the UN from 2000-2001. Before that, he served as acting president of Venezuela in October 1999 and as minister of government and justice from 1999-2000. He has held numerous ambassadorships, including to Argentina (1995-1998), to the Court of St. James and Ireland (1992-1995), and Chile from (1989-1992). The ambassador is a career diplomat who began his service in 1966 and has been decorated by numerous Latin American and European nations. He was born in Caracas in June 1939 and is married to Lydia Vincenti. They have two children.