T

HE Australian ambassador to Cambodia John Holloway is to take up an assignment

as senior adviser to Cambodian Foreign Minister Prince Norodom

Sirivudh.

A senior official at the Australian embassy in Phnom Penh said

on May 31 that the appointment will take effect from July 14. Holloway's term as

ambassador is scheduled to end in mid-July. He is leaving the Australian

diplomatic service to take the advisor's post.

The confirmation came

after rumors late last week during the visit to Phnom Penh of UN Special

Representative on Human Rights in Cambodia Michael Kirby, also an Australian.

Holloway reportedly said during a private dinner with Kirby and others that he

"would soon be a Cambodian civil servant."

Holloway, 51, has been

ambassador to Cambodia since 1991. He was earlier the deputy director general of

the Australian International Development Assistance Bureau, the official

Australian aid agency. He has also served in Manila, New Delhi and Jakarta among

other countries.

- An official announcement is expected later this

week.