Former US Contractor Lemma Admits Passing Classified Intelligence to Ethiopia to Help Target Tigray Fighters

Abraham Teklu Lemma, an Ethiopian-born American citizen and former US government contractor, has pleaded guilty to passing highly classified intelligence to Ethiopia. The US Department of Justice said he shared dozens of classified documents and photographs with senior Ethiopian officials over more than two years.

Prosecutors said Lemma hoped the information would help identify and kill fighters from the Tigray region during Ethiopia's 2020-22 civil war. That devastating war killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions.

The 54-year-old faces up to 22 years in prison under a plea agreement. Jeanine Ferris Pirro, US Attorney for the District of Columbia, said Lemma betrayed his oath, his colleagues and his country, while jeopardising national security.

Lemma worked as a contractor at the State Department, the Justice Department and the National Reconnaissance Office, the agency responsible for US intelligence satellites. Prosecutors said that between 2021 and his arrest in August 2023 he worked with senior figures in Ethiopia's political, military and intelligence establishments.

He secretly removed classified material from secure government facilities, sometimes copying sensitive information into handwritten notes that he carried out of the buildings. Using his position as an IT administrator, he also extracted electronic intelligence files.

Much of the information he shared concerned the armed conflict in Ethiopia, prosecutors said, including satellite imagery and details of military activities passed to Ethiopian officials through encrypted messages. The FBI said Ethiopian officials subsequently used intelligence supplied by Lemma in military operations.

John Eisenberg, the US assistant attorney general for national security, said Lemma betrayed the United States to an extraordinary degree. Court papers showed that in a December 2021 message to an Ethiopian official he wrote: 'We have to finish these people once and for all, otherwise there will never be peace in Ethiopia.' Later that day he shared further intelligence and urged the official to send drones.

Lemma was arrested in Maryland in August 2023 following an investigation into his handling of classified intelligence. Prosecutors alleged he had removed security markings from intelligence reports and shared information with a foreign intelligence official. In one exchange, when the official asked him to continue providing assistance, Lemma replied: 'Roger that!'

A peace agreement signed in November 2022 ended the conflict, although fighting resumed in September after both sides accused each other of not respecting the terms of the deal. The BBC has contacted the Ethiopian authorities for comment.