The government appointed Toshinori Shigeie as ambassador to South Africa on Friday -- despite his alleged involvement in the Foreign Ministry meddling of disgraced lawmaker Muneo Suzuki.

This was one of nine ambassadorial appointments made at a Cabinet meeting.

Shigeie, 58, was allegedly involved in a decision to bar two Japanese nongovernmental organizations from participating in an international aid conference on Afghanistan due to pressure from Suzuki, a House of Representatives member and a former member of the Liberal Democratic Party.

Shigeo Kondo, 61, a former spokesman for the Cabinet, was appointed ambassador to Finland, while 59-year-old Fumiko Saiga, ambassador to the United Nations, was named ambassador to Norway.

Teruyoshi Inagawa, 60, former ambassador to Uruguay, was appointed ambassador to Hungary, while 59-year-old Shinya Nagai was appointed ambassador to Argentina.

Shuji Shimokouji, 56, who is with the ministry's secretariat, was appointed ambassador to Panama, while Akio Suda, 56, who is now with the Japan International Cooperation Agency, was appointed ambassador to Sri Lanka.

Nobuaki Ito, 55, was appointed ambassador to Uganda, and Kenjiro Izumi, 58, was appointed ambassador to Ethiopia.