Elemo Qiltu

Elemo Qiltu
Born	Hassan Ibrahim 1936 Garsa, Harerghe, Ethiopia
Died	August, 1974 (38 years old) Chercher Mountains
Cause of death	Killed during Battle of Tiro
Occupation	businessman, guerrilla commander
Organization	Oromo Liberation Army
Known for	Leading first Oromo Liberation Army
Spouse(s)	Ammune Omar
Children	2

Hassan Ibrahim, more commonly known by his nom de guerre Elemo Qiltu, was a prominent member of the Oromo nationalist movement and the leader of the first Oromo Liberation Army.

Not much is known of Elemo's early life but by 1956 he had had an Islamic education and was living in Dire Dawa working for a wealthy Arab merchant who eventually took him to Aden, Yemen in 1956. He changed his name to Elemo Qiltu shortly after arriving in Aden. After getting married to another Oromo living in Aden, Elemo started his own business which grew to be very successful.

He never cared much about politics but his house became an occasional meeting place for Oromo nationalists and by 1966, this began to attract the attention of the local Ethiopian Consulate. He was suspected of financing enemies of the Ethiopian government. In 1967, a Harari businessman working for the Ethiopian government, visited Aden from Ethiopia and borrowed goods from Elemo and promised to pay him back if he came with him to Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. Shortly after arriving in the city, Elemo was arrested and accused of involvement in anti-Ethiopian terrorist activities. Elemo underwent intensive interrogation, severe beatings and psychological torture which all led him to becoming more and more politicised. He was only let go after his friends raised money and bribed a prominent Ethiopian security chief. The time he spent in prison turned Elemo into a convinced Oromo nationalist and, upon his release, he began to involve himself with the Oromo nationalist movement that had sprung up in the country in the form of the Mecha Tullama Self-Help Association.

In 1968, Elemo secretly went into Mogadishu, Somalia and attended a meeting of Oromo nationalists in which he was tasked with promoting Oromo nationalism to the Arab world. He moved back to Aden and formed an Oromo community association and managed to convince the city government of Aden to allow him to open a political office. He also sought support from different Arab governments as well as the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the Eritrean Liberation Front. With the help of the Iraqi government, he was able to provide a seven-month military training programme for Oromo nationalists and organized them into an efficient guerrilla force. He dispatched the force under the leadership of his friend, Abdul Karim Hajji Ibrahim, more commonly known as Jaarraa Abbaa Gadaa. The group was ambushed, captured and imprisoned by Somali forces after trying to cross into Ethiopia from northern Somalia.

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