Ethiopia arrests opposition members after clashes

Ethiopian security forces rounded up some opposition members yesterday, a day after police and troops fired into crowds killing at least 26 people in an explosion of violence sparked by election protests.

The main opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD), which the government accused of inciting the protesters, said 14 members had been arrested since Wednesday's clashes, the worst bloodshed in the capital Addis Ababa in four years.

One CUD leader was also under house arrest, it said.

"Their aim is to destroy any meaningful opposition," CUD deputy chairman Berhanu Nega said.

With Addis Ababa residents still in shock over Wednesday's violence, troops patrolled deserted streets and most shops remained shut. Blue cabs that usually clog the capital's streets were nowhere to be seen on the second day of a taxi strike.

The violence flared after weeks of opposition accusations that the ruling party intimidated voters and rigged the polls to hold on to power in the strategic Horn of Africa nation which the United States views as a key ally in its "war on terror".