Peru's President Alejandro Toledo said on Thursday he had asked all his cabinet ministers to tender their resignations and would evaluate who would keep their jobs.

"I've asked the entire cabinet to put their offices at my disposal ... (and) will decide who will stay and who will go," Toledo said in a brief statement to the media.

The presidential statement was made hours after Prime Minister Carlos Ferrero and Housing and Construction Minister Carlos Bruce quit in protest against the appointment of Fernando Olivera as new foreign minister.

Olivera, who had been Peru's ambassador to Spain for the past three years, publicly clashed last week with several top cabinet ministers when he argued in favor of legalizing expanded cultivation of coca in the departments of Huanuco and Cuzco.

Peru's constitution permits limited cultivation of about 10,000 hectares of coca, mostly in the Cuzco region. But regional governments have recently passed ordinances legalizing expanded coca cultivation.

Olivera is one of Toledo's closest political allies. His Independent Moralizing Front party offered key support to Toledo during the 2001 elections that brought him into office for a five-year term.

(Xinhua News Agency August 12, 2005)