Tonga's former Secretary of Foreign Affairs Mr Sonatane Tu'akinamolahi Taumoepeau-Tupou, has been appointed as the new Minister of Foreign Affairs, receiving his letter of appointment this morning.

The Government of Tonga's Information Unit reported that King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV made the appointment on Friday 27 August during a reshuffling of Ministerial portfolios, and the post was to have effect from 24 August 2004.

He takes over the portfolios from the Prime Minister Prince 'Ulukalala Lavaka Ata, who had been Minister of Foreign Affairs since October 1998.

Mr Taumoepeau-Tupou since December 1999, has been Tonga's first permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador to the United States of America, Mexico, Chile, the Republic of Cuba, and concurrently accredited as High Commissioner to Canada.

He has spent 35 years in Tonga's civil service and during this time has served at the Tonga High Commission in London, the Prime Minister's Office in Nuku'alofa, the Tonga Defence Services, and the Palace Office. He became the first Secretary for Foreign Affairs in 1979, and from 1983-86 he was Tonga's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.