Tunisia's interim president and prime minister quit the party of ousted leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali Tuesday, state media said, amid protests over the inclusion of party members in the new government.

The Constitutional Democratic Rally meanwhile expelled disgraced former president Ben Ali and six of his close associates, the official TAP news agency reported.
The resignations of interim president Foued Mebazaa and Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi comes after the government appointed a day earlier decided to separate the organs of state andpolitical parties, TAP reported.
The decision to expel Ben Ali and the others was made "on the basis of an inquiry carried out at party level following the serious events that rocked the country" in recent weeks, it said.