A former Vietnamese government minister who was dismissed last year over a property scandal has been given a new position in what is being seen as a setback for official efforts to stamp out corruption.

A government spokesman said former deputy prime minister, Ngo Xuan Loc, had been named as a special advisor to the prime minister, covering the manufacturing, construction and transport sectors.

Arrested in November, Mr Loc was the biggest victim of Vietnam's ongoing war against graft and corruption.

About turn

He and several other officials were blamed for failing to stop the illegal resale of state land, earmarked for an amusement park, which was never built.

At the time, his demise was seen as signalling the ruling Communist Party's determination to hit hard at graft within its ranks.

His comeback, as an assistant to Prime Minister Pham Van Khai, represents a baffling about-turn.

On Wednesday the ruling Communist Party issued a formal reprimand to two other officials implicated in the scandal, including the Planning and Investment Minister, Tran Suan Gia.

This was the mildest sanction the two men could have expected.

Public concern over corruption achieved rare visible form earlier this week when a group of some 30 protestors from a southern province shouted slogans and waved banners near the Communist Party headquarters in Hanoi.

Anger over the activities of provincial party officials has been the target of a number of protests in recent years.