"The government assures security to everyone who intends to go about their business as usual," the announcement on state radio said.

The dusk-to-dawn curfew will, however, remain in effect until further notice, it said.

South African soldiers still patrol Maseru

Government workers have been instructed to return to work following the closure of state offices last Tuesday.

Schools are also expected to reopen later this week.

Soldiers who fled during the army mutiny last week have been given until 1400GMT on Monday to return to their barracks.

They have been told to report for duty in uniform and with unloaded weapons.

Meanwhile, defence ministers from South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe are expected in the capital, Maseru, for talks on how to stabilise the country.

As the situation returns to normal, the authorities have begun assessing the damage and destruction caused by arson and looting, following the intervention of South African and Botswanan forces to put down an army mutiny.

The exact scale of the destruction has not yet been calculated, but business circles put the figure at well over one billion rand ($171m), Foreign Affairs Minister Tom Thabane said.

King Letsie III was said to be horrified at the destruction that has razed the central business district in the capital, Maseru, to the ground.

"This is the greatest crisis Lesotho has had to face," Prince Seeiso Bereng Seeiso, the king's youngest brother and his spokesman said.

"Lesotho has not got a large economic base. It has been absolutely shattered," he added.

The small kingdom, which ranks amongst the world's poorest nations, will not be able top foot the bill of reconstruction on its own.

"Ministers of finance and trade are going to an IMF meeting to talk to donors and request assistance to address economic devastation in Lesotho," Mr Thabane said.