Tunis (ANTARA News/AFP) - Tunisia`s interim Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi announced Monday a new government free of any members of the regime of president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, toppled in January in an uprising.

The new 22-member interim government, called the "public authority", includes five new ministers and two women.

The removal from government of figures from the Ben Ali regime was a key demand of protests that continued after the fall of the authoritarian leader on January 14.

Following the protests, the previous interim prime minister, Mohammed Ghannouchi, and two other ministers who had also served in Ben Ali`s government resigned last week.

Two ministers from the opposition quit days later. (*)

Editor: Kunto Wibisono
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