Daijiworld Media Network - Washington
Washington, Nov 4: A former US government contractor has pleaded guilty to conspiring to pass classified national defence information to Ethiopia, which officials allegedly used in military operations against armed groups fighting the government.
Abraham Teklu Lemma, 54, of Silver Spring, Maryland, admitted sharing sensitive intelligence with senior Ethiopian officials for more than two years. According to the US Justice Department, he also urged Ethiopian contacts to use drones against opponents of the government.
Lemma worked as an information technology contractor for the US State Department, Justice Department and National Reconnaissance Office. Prosecutors said the classified information reached Ethiopia's military and intelligence agencies between 2021 and August 2023, when he was arrested.
The US Attorney's Office in Washington cited a message sent by Lemma to an Ethiopian contact in December 2021, in which he urged action against opponents of the government. "We have to finish these people once and for all, otherwise there will never be peace in Ethiopia," he wrote.
FBI counterintelligence official Roman Rozhavsky said Lemma had admitted that Ethiopian officials used the information he supplied in military operations. However, the Justice Department did not disclose details of the operations or establish whether anyone was killed as a result of the intelligence breach.
An FBI affidavit filed in 2023 alleged that Lemma transmitted top-secret satellite imagery and classified reports to Ethiopian government operatives through an encrypted messaging application.
The disclosures began during Ethiopia's 2020-2022 war between federal government forces and fighters from the Tigray region. Researchers at Belgium's Ghent University estimated that around 500,000 civilians died during the conflict due to violence, famine and the collapse of health services.
Although the Pretoria peace agreement brought the war to an end, fighting has reportedly resumed. Government-allied fighters entered Mekelle, the regional capital of Tigray, on October 4 after the Tigray People's Liberation Front withdrew.
The US authorities have not identified the armed groups targeted by the Ethiopian government using the intelligence supplied by Lemma. The Ethiopian government has also not issued any public statement on the case.
Under his plea agreement with federal prosecutors, Lemma faces a recommended prison term ranging from 10 years to 21 years and 10 months, subject to the court's acceptance of the agreement. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 14, 2027, the Justice Department said.