(CNN) The head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church has condemned his own country's rulers in a video recorded by the director of a US-based charity, saying "they want to destroy the people of Tigray" with actions of "the highest brutality and cruelty." Wadley told CNN he took the video of Mathias in Addis Ababa, where the Patriarch is under what he described as "unofficial house arrest." The charity director said he and his wife were in the country caring for refugees and internally displaced people at the time. The video message represents the Patriarch's first public comments on what he calls " Tigray's genocide ," since the conflict there began. They are not even allowed to be buried, as for example in Mahibere Dego," Mathias said.

Source: CNN May 08, 2021 17:03 UTC