The Washington Diplomat

Appointments - August 2008

Denmark
Ulrik Eversbusch is scheduled to assume the position of minister counselor on Sept. 1, replacing Stig Paolo Piras, who is scheduled to depart the post on Aug. 31.

Malaysia
Abdul Rahman Abdullah assumed the position of education attaché on June 1, replacing Mohd Zaki Husin, who departed the post on Oct. 31, 2007. Abdullah previously worked as a lecturer with the Sultan Abdul Halim Teacher College in Sungai Petani, Kedah, Malaysia.

Mohd Amiruddin Hamzah assumed the position of first secretary (education and training) on May 29, having previously served in the Road Transport Department and the Public Service Department of Malaysia.

Ruziah Haji Shafei assumed the position of education attaché in January, having served in the Training Division of the Public Service Department of Malaysia since 2000.

Mongolia
Khasbazaryn Bekhbat became ambassador of Mongolia to the United States on April 2. Ambassador Bekhbat — who has an extensive history with the Mongolian Ministry of Foreign Affairs — previously served as the ministry’s state secretary since 2006. He was also an ambassador at large from 2005 to 2006 and 2000 to 2001, in between which time he served as ambassador to the U.N. Office, World Trade Organization, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. In addition, he was Mongolia’s ambassador to France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and UNESCO from 1993 to 1998. In the early 1990s, Ambassador Bekhbat served as vice foreign minister of Mongolia and chairman of the Mongolian National Commission for UNESCO. He was also the foreign policy adviser to former President Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat (1990-91), deputy head of the Foreign Relations Division with the Central Committee of the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party, as well as third secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the early 1980s. Ambassador Bekhbat graduated from the Moscow Institute of International Relations in 1973 and earned a doctorate in history from the Moscow Academy of Social Sciences in 1990. He speaks French, Russian and English fluently, and is married with three children.