Tunis: Tunisia's interim president named former government minister Al Baji Al Sebsi as prime minister and appealed for an end to "chaos" after street protests left at least three people dead.
Region | Tunisia
Tunisian Prime Minister resigns
Critics have accused Gannouchi of being to close to the North African state's former government, toppled in an uprising last month, and of failing to enact reforms.
- Reuters
- Published: 19:14 February 27, 2011
- Image Credit: AFP
- Smoke rises from fire left after clashes between security forces and demonstrators in Tunis on January 14, 2011 after Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's address to the nation
"We ask everyone for quiet," Fouad Mebazaa said on Sunday in an address on state television.
Earlier, interim Prime Minister Mohammad Gannouchi resigned, meeting a main demand of protesters.
Gannouchi had served as premier in the government of ousted President Zine Al Abidine Bin Ali and demonstrators had repeatedly called for his departure.
Mass protests forced Ben Ali to leave office in January, inspiring a wave of unrest throughout the region that led to the February 11 ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Three protesters were killed in clashes with security forces yesterday, the official Tunis Afrique Presse news agency said, citing the Interior Ministry. More than 3,000 protesters rallied in central Tunis on Feb. 20 to demand Gannouchi's resignation, TAP reported.
Al Sebsi served as foreign minister from 1981 until 1986, the year before Ben Ali became president.
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Tunisia Prime Minister Mohammad Gannouchi announced his resignation on Sunday over state television, following a wave of street protests.
Critics have accused Gannouchi of being to close to the North African state's former government, toppled in an uprising last month, and of failing to enact reforms.
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