Following are profiles of the three Liberal Democratic Party executives appointed Sunday by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in a shakeup of the LDP executive lineup:
Appointed secretary general of the LDP, Abe had been serving as deputy chief Cabinet secretary since being named to the post in July 2000 by then Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori.
Abe, who turned 49 on Sunday, has been elected to the House of Representatives three times from Yamaguchi Prefecture. He was first elected to the chamber in 1993.