Mogadishu (Somalia Today) — Somalia’s cabinet said on Monday it had annulled all agreements and memoranda signed with the United Arab Emirates, marking the sharpest escalation yet in Mogadishu’s standoff with Abu Dhabi over ports, security cooperation and foreign influence.
The decision, taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Salah Ahmed Jama, voids all security- and defence-related arrangements linked to Berbera, Bosaso and Kismayo—strategic ports that sit at the heart of Somalia’s long-running disputes over federal authority and external involvement.
While the official decree cited “violations of sovereignty, national unity and political independence,” government sources in Mogadishu told Somalia Today the move was a direct response to Israel’s decision on December 26, 2025, to recognise Somaliland, Somalia’s northern breakaway region.
The Israel factor
Somali officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said intelligence assessments reviewed by the government indicate that the UAE quietly facilitated the normalisation between Hargeisa and Tel Aviv, leveraging its role under the Abraham Accords to draw Israel deeper into the Horn of Africa.
According to those officials, the recognition arrangement would grant Israel logistical access to the UAE-expanded port of Berbera, giving it a strategic foothold on the Red Sea that bypasses Mogadishu entirely.
“The UAE is the elephant in the room,” a senior Somali diplomat said. “They are using our land to build a security architecture for themselves and Israel, without our consent.”
The UAE has, for years, maintained close commercial and security ties with Somaliland and Puntland, often dealing directly with regional authorities rather than the federal government.
However, Mogadishu has repeatedly warned that such arrangements—most notably the UAE-linked expansion of Berbera and Bosaso—undermine Somalia’s sovereignty and weaken the federal system.
Alongside the annulment, the cabinet approved a draft law on the protection of sovereignty and territorial unity that would prohibit regional administrations and private entities from entering into agreements with foreign governments without prior federal approval and oversight.
Officials said the legislation is designed to close what Mogadishu views as a legal vacuum exploited by foreign powers to secure port access, basing rights and security partnerships outside the federal framework.
Pivot to Riyadh
As relations with Abu Dhabi deteriorate, Somalia has moved quickly to deepen ties with Saudi Arabia, aligning itself more closely with Riyadh’s regional posture.
Somali and Saudi officials have found common cause in opposing what they describe as the UAE’s increasingly assertive footprint across the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, according to regional diplomats, has aligned Mogadishu with Saudi Arabia’s broader containment strategy.
For Riyadh, the concern is the UAE’s expanding arc of influence, which Saudi officials say now stretches from the separatist-held Socotra island in Yemen to ports in Puntland and Somaliland—effectively pressing along the southern flank of the Arabian Peninsula.
In a clear diplomatic signal, Somali officials in recent weeks have issued statements affirming the “unity of Yemen,” a pointed rebuke to the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, which controls large parts of southern Yemen.
Saudi Arabia has also reiterated its full support for Somalia’s sovereignty.
Speaking at an extraordinary meeting of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) foreign ministers in Jeddah, Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed Al-Khuraiji urged the bloc to “categorically” reject Israel’s recognition of Somaliland and to adopt a unified Islamic position against any engagement with what he described as separatist entities in Somalia.
Yemen spillover
Security officials said the cabinet’s decision also aims to sever logistical links between UAE-aligned actors in Somalia and the war in Yemen.
Regional security analysts have long alleged that the port of Bosaso—where Puntland forces previously received Emirati training—served as a transit hub for supplies destined for pro-UAE factions in Yemen and Sudan’s RSF rebels, allegations that Puntland authorities have previously rejected.
On Thursday, Somalia’s Immigration and Citizenship Agency (ICA) announced it had opened an investigation into the alleged “unauthorised use” of Somali airports and airspace, describing the incident as a challenge to national sovereignty and legal procedures.
The announcement comes after the Saudi-led coalition accused the UAE of helping STC leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi leave Yemen by boat to Somaliland and then travel onward via Mogadishu to the UAE.
Somalia subsequently suspended United Arab Emirates military flights from transiting its airspace or landing at its airports.
“We are seeing the merger of the Yemen and Somalia conflicts,” said Ahmed Abdi, a Mogadishu-based analyst.
“Mogadishu has concluded that the UAE’s network in Berbera and Bosaso is no longer just about development, but about projecting power in ways that destabilise the federal government.”
Opposition backs ban
The cabinet’s move drew rare support from former president and current opposition member Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo, whose administration seized Emirati cash at Mogadishu airport in 2018, triggering a years-long diplomatic freeze.
In a statement released on Monday, Farmaajo welcomed the decision to protect “sovereignty, unity and solidarity,” arguing that foreign partnerships must rest on international law.
“The people and government of Somalia have a duty to protect the nationhood and independence of Somalia,” he said.
However, the former leader also pressed President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on domestic divisions, urging him to prioritise inclusive elections and reverse what he described as unilateral constitutional decisions.
He warned that confronting external pressure would require restoring the National Consultative Council and repairing internal political rifts.
It remains unclear how Somalia intends to enforce the annulment in regions where local authorities retain de facto control, or how the decision will affect existing commercial operations at the ports named.
The UAE did not immediately comment on the cabinet’s decision.
