Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — Ignoring stern warnings from the authorities, students of Ethiopia's Addis Ababa University Tuesday continued their week-long class boycott, insisting that police must vacate the main campus.

The authorities had warned the students that their failure to return to class by Tuesday, would be considered as voluntary withdrawal from the University, in which case the students must vacate the campus.

Legal measures were also threatened against those who failed to comply, or tried to prevent other students wishing to resume classes or disrupt the teaching process.

The warning late Monday followed the failed second-round of talks involving student leaders, officials of the Education Ministry and the University management.

The negotiations ended in a deadlock, with the students insisting on the immediate withdrawal of police from the campus.

Education Minister Guenet Zewde, who chaired the talks, said in a statement that she "shared in principle" the students demand for the immediate withdrawal of police from the campus.

But she said the replacement of the police by University security guards would take "considerable time," and appealed to the students for calm.

Her appeal was, however, ignored by the students who walked out of the talks.

In a separate statement later, the Education Ministry threatened that students who continued the lecture boycott "would not be offered another opportunity for readmission."

The students protest started 10 April over several demands, including the students' right to run their Union, the right to resume a suspended campus publication and the right of the students to be represented on the Academic Committee to choose a new University President.

The students staged a peaceful rally on the main campus last Tuesday to press their demands.

But the gathering later degenerated into a violent clash with the police, resulting in several injuries and the arrest of some students.