Ethiopian House Speaker Tagesse Chafo blamed a third party for the unfolding violence in the restive Metekel Zone in Ethiopia’s Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State.
Tagesse made the remark after he visited the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) being built about 20 kilometers east of the Ethio-Sudanese border.
He said that the violence was hinged to efforts aimed at interrupting the construction of the dam by instigating and financing the violence in the region.
The speaker said the GERD is the eyes, hearts and spirit of the Ethiopian public and Ethiopia will never negotiate over its sovereign rights of using the Nile without harming others.
Ethiopia is the source of 85 percent of the Nile water.
