Abdirahman Mahdi

{{Short description|One of the founders of the Ogaden National Liberation Front}}

{{distinguish|text=Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi, leader of the Neo Mahdists in Sudan}}

{{BLP sources|date=July 2015}}

Abdirahman Mahdi is one of the founders of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), a political movement determined to allow the people of Ogaden to exercise their right to self-determination in the Horn of Africa and its current Chairman since November 12, 2019. The ONLF is considered a terrorist organisation by the government of Ethiopia.

In addition, Mahdi is also a member of the central committee and executive council, highest decision-making bodies, of the ONLF. Furthermore, he is the current vice president.{{cite web|url=http://www.unpo.org/article/18354 |title=XII UNPO GA Adopts General Resolution and Elects New Presidency|date=8 July 2015|publisher= Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization}} of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), elected at its XII General Assembly held at the Flemish Parliament in Brussels on 4 July 2015.

During his youth, Mahdi would be displaced from his home during the 1964 war.{{Cite web |date=2020-05-16 |title=Lixdii Janaral ee Dhibaateeyey Soomaalida iyo Meeshii ay ku Dambeeyeen. |url=https://somalimemo.info:443/articles/12967/Lixdii-Janaral-ee-Dhibaateeyey-Soomaalida-iyo-Meeshii-ay-ku-Dambeeyeen |access-date=2023-07-06 |website=somalimemo.info |language=English}}

Mahdi founded the ONLF on August 15, 1984, along with five other prominent Ogadeni activists: Mohamed Ismail Omar, current vice chairman of the ONLF; Sheikh Ibrahim Abdalla Mohamed, former chairman of the ONLF (1991–1998); Abdi Ibrahim Ghehleh, former trade unionist; Abdirahman Yusuf Magan, former WSLF member; and Abdullahi Muhammed Sa'adi, former WSLF representative in Kuwait. The ONLF is currently led by Chairman Mohammed Omar Osman, who was elected to the post at a 1998 national convention.