AP Worldstream
April 17, 2001; Tuesday 11:34 AM Eastern Time

Students at the University of Addis Ababa defied a government ultimatum Tuesday and continued boycotting classes, while gangs of youths smashed windows at the Ministry of Education and adjacent buildings.

The government issued the ultimatum to students to end their weeklong protest over the guarding of the university campuses or face expulsion after talks between student representatives and Education Minister Guenet Zewdie broke down Monday.

''Students who fail to attend classes by noon Wednesday will be considered as having voluntarily withdrawn from the university and will not be readmitted,'' the ultimatum said.

Students, who are demanding that police guarding the university's two campuses in Addis Ababa be replaced by private security guards, staged peaceful sit-ins in both places Tuesday morning as police watched.

Gangs of youths later gathered outside the university gates, then headed for the Ministry of Education where they smashed windows with stones before police dispersed them.

It was not clear whether there was any relation between the gangs and the students, and police would not answer reporters' questions about the incident.

Since the arrival in power in May 1991 of the Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front, street demonstrations or protests of any kind have been very rare.

Student unrest in the mid-1960s and 1970s preceded violent upheavals in Ethiopia that forced the country's last emperor, Haile Selassie, to institute reforms and ultimately led to his ouster in 1974. Students were also influential in organizing resistance to the military regime that ruled Ethiopia from 1974 to May 1991.

Late last month, the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi confirmed reports of a power struggle within the Tigray People's Liberation Front, the core group of the EPRDF, and the explusion of 12 of its members due to disagreement over the conduct of Ethiopia's 2 1/2-year border war with Eritrea.

Education Minister Guenet said Monday the government had agreed in theory to the switch to civilian security guards but said selection and training would take time. The students demanded that she set a deadline which Guenet said she was unauthorized to.