French foreign minister quits after Tunisia blunders

French Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie presented her resignation in a letter to President Nicolas Sarkozy on Sunday, following a series of gaffes over the uprising in Tunisia.

"I ask you to accept my resignation," Alliot-Marie wrote in the letter, a copy of which was seen by Reuters. Sarkozy, due to make a televised address later on Sunday, is expected to replace her with Defence Minister Alain Juppe, a veteran conservative who served as prime minister and foreign minister in the 1990s. (Reuters)