Tunisia's interior ministry has lifted a 10-day-old overnight curfew which had been in place in the capital since clashes between police and anti-government protesters.
"The ministry has decided to lift the curfew due to the stabilisation of the security situation," it said in a statement. The curfew had hit businesses in the capital.
Some 1,400 people were arrested in the 10 days since anti-government demonstrations earlier this month prompted authorities to enforce the curfew and ramp up security in the capital Tunis, state-run news agency TAP said. The authorities, struggling to restore order after the overthrow of Tunisia's authoritarian ruler in January, said around 300 were charged with dangerous crimes.
Tensions in the North African country are running high before an election on July 24th to select an assembly that will rewrite the constitution.
Many demonstrators, who led four days of demonstrations earlier this month, fear the interim government will go back on its pledge to help Tunisia build a democracy. Their latest protest on May 8th was broken up by police with tear gas.
TAP said eight people were charged with homicide, 62 with aggression and violence, 100 with "terrorising" citizens and the rest with crimes including theft, breaking the curfew and damaging public property.
Tunisian authorities have not said anyone was killed during the recent demonstrations but had said security officers were critically injured.
Elsewhere in the capital workers have gone on strike. On Monday and yesterday, taxi drivers blocked main roads in Tunis in a demonstration over working conditions.
Meanwhile a group of suspected al-Qaeda members opened fire on Tunisian forces, killing four, a security source said today.
Three of the nine armed men were killed in the clash in the northern town of Rouhia.
Arab and Western officials have warned al-Qaeda could be exploiting the conflict in neighbouring Libya to acquire weapons and smuggle them into other countries.
"Nine armed people opened fire on the military and police at a checkpoint. The military returned fire," said the source, who declined to be named.
"The armed men were Tunisian, Algerian and Libyan," the source said, adding they were believed to be members of al Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb (AQIM).
Tunisian security forces on Sunday arrested two people suspected of being members of the North African group near the Libyan border who were carrying an explosives belt and bomb.
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb is one of the group's biggest regional branches and has also carried out kidnappings in recent years.
Reuters