Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi, who retained his job, said 12 ministers would be replaced, purging the interim government of members of the former ruling party including the interior, defense and foreign ministers. 

Weeks of violent protests by Tunisians angered by poverty, repression and corruption forced President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali to flee to Saudi Arabia on January 14 after 23 years in power. 

But they had been angered after an interim government led by Ghannouchi had retained many former Ben Ali loyalists. 

After the PM's television address, chants of "bread, water but no Ghannouchi" broke out among protesters who had launched a sit-in outside his office to demand he resign. 

Earlier on January 27, thousands of demonstrators thronged Bourguiba Avenue, the main boulevard in the capital Tunis, demanding that the government resign. 

The purge replaced members of Ben Ali's former ruling RCD party with ministers who Ghannouchi said were chosen for their high levels of experience and qualifications.