THE GUARDIAN: Michèle Alliot-Marie had faced criticism over links with former regime in Tunisia and has been replaced by defence ministerBeleaguered French foreign minister Michèle Alliot-Marie has resigned after weeks of criticism over her links with the former regime in Tunisia.
She was replaced by the defence minister, Alain Juppé, a former prime minister convicted in a corruption scandal six years ago, in an unplanned but widely predicted government reshuffle.
Alliot-Marie, 64, known as MAM, insisted in her resignation letter that she had "committed no fault". She is one of the longest-serving ministers in France, having held many important cabinet posts, including defence and justice. She had been at the foreign ministry for just three months.
As civil unrest spread through the Arab world, Alliot-Marie committed a series of gaffes leading to her downfall. In January, she offered the services of French security forces to quell the uprising in Tunisia, just three days before protesters forced dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali to flee. >>> Kim Willsher | Sunday, February 27, 2011
