The Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, was reported quiet with businesses and shops beginning to reopen, local sources told IRIN. "Law and order have been restored," security sources in the city said. However, diplomatic sources confirmed that there had been a large number of arrests on Wednesday night. Some of the arrests were related to looting and violence after widespread demonstrations and riots that day, but others were reportedly political arrests. The crackdown followed a government statement warning political parties against "promoting anarchy".

The government has ordered Addis Ababa university closed indefinitely, and local secondary schools and colleges closed until Monday. The university in Mekele, Tigray, has also reportedly been closed, local sources said. Student demonstrations last week over the presence of police on campus, and demands for more representation, led to violent riots this week. Diplomatic sources said "other groups had attached themselves to the process." Regional analysts said such demonstrations were rare in Ethiopian history, and was likely to be linked to a perceived weakness in the government, since the dominant Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) split last month. Western diplomatic sources said the initial reluctance of the government to take a more typically tough line with the students was "seen as a sign of internal weakness" by some groups. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's TPLF party - which has been the dominant force in the coalition government since 1991 - was split last month by a walkout by prominent central committee members.