ETHIOPIAN opposition leader Hailu Shawel claimed the government had put him and his family under house arrest a day after it threatened to detain opposition leaders if violence over recent elections persisted.

Ethiopia’s ruling party claims to have won just over half the seats in the country’s parliamentary election, but opposition leaders declared it was still too early to tell who would form the next government.

THE leader of Ethiopia’s main opposition party called for his coalition to reject the results of yesterday’s election before balloting was even over, saying there were massive irregularities that made it impossible for the vote to be free and fair.