Ex Religious Affairs Minister Passes Away

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - Former religious affairs minister Tarmizi Taher died at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital here on Tuesday at 04.00 a.m.

He was laid in state at his residence in the Indonesian Navy housing complex before being buried at the Kalibata Heroes Cemetery  in South Jakarta on Tuesday afternoon.

Tarmizi was chief of the mental development center at the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) and secretary general of the Religious Affairs Ministry before being appointed religious affairs minister in 1993 for five-year term.

He was also Indonesian ambassador to Norway and chief of the Indonesian Mosques Council between 2006  and 2011. From 2004 to 2008, he was rector of Az-zahra Islamic University in Jakarta.

He also received an honorary degree in propagation from the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University in Jakarta.    
    
Born in Padang, West Sumatra, on October 7, 1936, Tarmizi started his career at the Indonesian Navy after completing his medical study at Airlangga University (Unair) in Surabaya, East Java. (*/DWA/T007)