TUNIS - Tunisia said it freed the last political prisoners of its fallen strongman on Wednesday as the new caretaker leadership faced more calls for a fuller purge of the old guard from the fledgling national unity coalition.

Najib Chebbi, whose move this week from marginalised opposition leader to a ministerial appointment in the new cabinet is emblematic of the new Tunisia, told Reuters: "All the political prisioners have been released today."

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They included members of the banned Islamist movement Ennahda. But figures were not available of how many people had been released.

Secrecy under veteran former president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, who fled to Saudi Arabia, meant that the number of those detained for political reasons was never made public.

While authoritarian Arab rulers have long cited the threat of radical Islam to justify repressive rule to their Western allies, Tunisia's Islamist opposition has been less visible than those in poorer and less secular states of the region.

Hundreds of protesters demonstrated in the Tunisian capital on Wednesday to demand the dismissal of former Ben Ali loyalists from the new government headed by Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi, who was himself premier under the old leadership.

He is due to hold a first cabinet meeting on Thursday.

Tunisia's Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi walks before a news conference at his office in Tunis January 17, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

Four opposition figures quit the government within a day of being appointed, saying protesters were disappointed at how many old faces were kept on. They feared, they said, that the people were being denied the fruits of their "Jasmine Revolution".

Protest

The weeks of protests over poverty and unemployment, which cost about 100 lives, prompted speculation across the Arab world that other repressive governments might also face unrest.

About 500 people protested in Bourguiba Avenue in the centre of Tunis on Wednesday, fewer than in recent days.

"This will continue every day until we get rid of the ruling party," said Faydi Borni, a teacher.

"We got rid of the dictator but not the dictatorship. We want rid of this government that shut us up for 30 years."

A protester chants slogans as she holds a sign during a demonstration in downtown Tunis January 18, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]