Nasraoui has decided to eat and continue speaking out

Radhia Nasraoui, 50, said doctors and friends had urged her to stop her fast on the 55th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

She said her protest had unmasked what she calls Tunisia's "police state".

The authorities deny Ms Nasraoui's accusations, and say and she has been allowed to practise freely as a lawyer.

Anniversary

She began her hunger strike on 15 October, saying she was systematically shadowed, that her phone was monitored and her family harassed.

I've contributed to unmask the dictatorial and police-state nature of [President Zine al-Abidine] Ben Ali's regime Radhia Nasraoui

She said she was being targeted because she had defended political prisoners and had accused the government of using torture against opposition activists.

After ending her protest, she told supporters she would "continue to fight for freedom".

"The most important thing is that I've contributed to unmask the dictatorial and police-state nature of [President Zine al-Abidine] Ben Ali's regime," she said.

Radhia Nasraoui is the wife of Tunisian opposition politician Hamma Hammami, who spent seven months in jail last year on "subversion" charges.

Powerful ally

Last week President Jacques Chirac of France visited Tunisia and said he had raised her case in talks with President Ben Ali.

Mr Chirac also appeared to play down Tunisia's controversial human rights record, by saying many people in France also went on hunger strike.

Chirac was Ben Ali's guest in early December

He added: "The first human right is the right to eat, to be cared for, to receive an education and housing."

From that point of view, he said, Tunisia was "more advanced than many countries".

On Wednesday Ms Nasraoui reacted harshly to the French president's statement.

"Chirac tells us - eat and shut up," she told AFP News agency.