Tunisia extends emergency rule, ends curfew

The curfew’s hours had gradually been reduced in ensuing weeks. Most recently, it prevented people from walking outside or driving from midnight until 4 a.m.

The state of emergency, declared Jan. 14, forbids any public street gathering of three people or more, though that rule has rarely been enforced. It also authorizes police and security forces to use their weapons against suspects who do not turn themselves in when ordered to do so, and against fleeing suspects who cannot be apprehended.

Life in Tunisia has largely returned to normal as a caretaker government tries to stabilize the mostly Muslim country ahead of elections, supposed to take place later in 2011. Stores, markets, gas stations, and schools have reopened, and people have returned to work.

The marauding gangs of suspected regime loyalists who pillaged homes and businesses in the early days of upheaval have mostly faded away, though sporadic incidents persist.

There have also been questions over whether radical Islam could emerge in Tunisia.

On Friday, several Muslim fundamentalists broke away from a demonstration and stopped in front of the capital’s synagogue, making anti-Semitic remarks, said Roger Bismuth, the leader of Tunisia’s small, historic Jewish community.

Bismuth, however, downplayed the incident.