Belgian daily's former editor to become foreign ministry chief secretary.

(From BBC Monitoring International Reports)

Text of Mia Doornaert report by Belgian newspaper De Standaard web site on 25 August entitled "Dirk Achten will become chief secretary of Foreign Ministry"

Brussels: VLD [Flemish Liberal Democrats] Political Director and former Editor in Chief of De Standaard Dirk Achten will become the Foreign Ministry's chief secretary by the end of this year. It is the first time that this function will not be held by a diplomat.

Yesterday [24 August], Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht confirmed to us over the phone that Achten (47 years old) "is meant" to succeed incumbent Chief Secretary Johan Verbeke. Verbeke has been …