May 18, 2001

Academics in Ethiopia Are Again Under Siege

Street violence follows an armed assault on the main campus of Addis Ababa U.

By WACHIRA KIGOTHO

In the aftermath of an attack by the riot police on university students here, squads of officers in open trucks patrol downtown, near the campus that was the scene of the assault. Student leaders are hiding in slums, trying to avoid arrest. Lecturers in university common rooms are reluctant to talk to strangers.

Little wonder that a tense fear predominates: The police attack last month on Addis Ababa University's largest campus, which followed student boycotts, left 41 students and