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Tunisia: Tunisian interim prime minister resigns

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Reporting from Tunis, Tunisia —

The interim prime minister of the North African country that inspired the ongoing uprisings throughout the Arab world resigned Sunday after a new round of daily protests resulted in three weekend deaths.

Interim President Fouad Mebazaa named Beji Caid Essebsi, a former foreign minister who served under Tunisia’s long-ago President Habib Bourguiba, as new caretaker prime minister ahead of elections planned for the summer, state television reported.

Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi, who served in the same post under deposed President Zine el Abidine ben Ali, bowed to public pressure and unruly street protests demanding that any traces of the former regime be purged from public life.

“After taking more than one week of thinking, I became convinced — and my family shared my conviction — and decided to resign as prime minister,” he said in a televised address.

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