Security forces have continued to arrest and detain opposition leaders and political activists in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. Security sources told IRIN on Friday that police were known to have made more arrests on Thursday, including late night house arrests. The whereabouts of more than 40 opposition politicians arrested during widespread riots and demonstrations last week were still unknown, the source said.

Addis Ababa was reported "quiet", but many students at the university still seemed reluctant to return to class, protesting against the conditions imposed for re-entry. University authorities had demanded that returning students sign a form apologising for the disruptions, and requiring students' parents to take responsibility for actions by students, local sources said.

On Thursday, following more protests at the university gates, Ethiopian police released about 1,200 students from a holding centre about 20 km outside the capital.

Meanwhile, local sources in Mekele, capital of Tigray State, said that Mekele University had been reopened after student demonstrations last week. One student was found dead in Mekele, the pro-Ethiopian government Walta Information Centre said last week. Political tensions relating to the split in the prime minister's Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) continued to affect Mekele, but were "not being seen directly", local sources said. The sources said there had been no known arrests in Mekele following a student hunger strike in Mekele University last week.