Mogadishu (Somalia Today) — Somalia has issued a carefully worded clarification of its Western Sahara policy, saying only official statements reflect its position and stressing support for a UN-led process, after a high-profile move in Rabat rattled Algeria and stirred tension inside Villa Somalia.
In a press statement released on Saturday, the Foreign Ministry said recent media reports had attributed comments to Somalia on Western Sahara and underlined that the country’s stance “is conveyed exclusively through its formal statements and official communications.”
The ministry said Somalia “takes note” of UN Security Council Resolution 2797 and its role in backing “the peaceful settlement process under the auspices of the United Nations.”
It called on the two parties to hold “serious and direct negotiations” to reach a peaceful, final, and mutually acceptable solution, and voiced full support for the UN Secretary-General and his Personal Envoy.
At the same time, the statement reaffirmed Somalia’s commitment to strengthening cooperation with the Kingdom of Morocco, stressing mutual respect for each country’s national unity and sovereignty — language that nods to Moroccan sensitivities over territorial integrity even as Mogadishu leans heavily on UN resolutions and talks.
Rabat move, Algiers anger
Saturday’s clarification follows weeks of quiet but tense diplomacy set off by the latest Security Council decision on Western Sahara.
On October 31, the Council adopted Resolution 2797, which renewed the MINURSO mandate for another year and, in many diplomats’ eyes, consolidated Western backing for Morocco’s autonomy plan as a basis for negotiations.
Morocco hailed the vote as a diplomatic gain and quickly cast it as a turning point. Algeria, by contrast, distanced itself from the text in an explanatory statement, arguing that it remained unbalanced and did not reflect the Polisario Front’s position or the centrality of self-determination.
Somali officials say that the vote forced an immediate repair mission.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud travelled to Algiers on November 10, to calm Algerian unease, telling counterparts that Somalia still backed a UN-led process and had no intention of undermining Algeria’s regional role.
Officials who accompanied him say Algerian interlocutors were not pleased with the Security Council dynamics but signalled they were prepared to hear Somalia out. Hassan left Algiers believing he had, at least, prevented the relationship from sliding into open rupture.
Villa Somalia backlash
That fragile understanding did not last. Days later, Foreign Minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali appeared in Rabat to sign a joint communiqué with his Moroccan counterpart, Nasser Bourita.
Moroccan and regional media presented the document as fresh proof that Somalia backed Morocco’s sovereignty and autonomy plan, and highlighted language on territorial integrity and support for the latest UN resolution. For Rabat, it looked like a clear diplomatic win.
Inside Villa Somalia, the timing and framing landed badly. Officials say the presidency learned of the Rabat text from Moroccan public messaging rather than through its own channels.
One senior adviser called it “a diplomatic ambush from within,” arguing that it cut across the assurances Hassan had just delivered in Algiers and made Somalia look as if it were pivoting sharply towards Rabat.
Neutrality on paper
The new press statement does not mention the joint communiqué, the foreign minister, or the Algiers trip. Instead, it draws a firm line around who speaks for Somalia on one of North Africa’s most charged disputes.
By insisting that only formal statements and official communications express the country’s Western Sahara policy, Villa Somalia is re-centring its own voice and creating distance from some of the more expansive interpretations coming out of Rabat.
The text avoids explicitly endorsing Morocco’s autonomy plan or describing it as the only realistic solution, phrases that Moroccan-aligned outlets have attributed to Somalia in recent days.
Yet the statement still takes care not to embarrass Morocco in public.
The final paragraph’s emphasis on “strengthening cooperation” with the kingdom and “mutual respect” for national unity and sovereignty will be read in Rabat as reassurance that Mogadishu is not walking back the broader relationship, even as it tightens the wording around Western Sahara itself.
For domestic audiences, the message also carries an internal warning. It signals that foreign policy on sensitive regional files should run through a controlled process, not through ad hoc communiqués and talking points that other capitals can amplify before Mogadishu has calibrated the balance.
Regional fault line
The episode underlines how exposed Somalia is to the long-running rivalry between Algeria and Morocco at a time when it is still battling an Islamist insurgency at home, managing Gulf competition in the Horn of Africa, and seeking investment from both Arab and African partners.
Algeria and Morocco severed diplomatic ties in 2021 and remain divided over Western Sahara, gas pipelines, trade corridors, and security partnerships.
Morocco’s autonomy plan, first tabled in 2007, has gained traction with several Western governments, and Resolution 2797 is widely viewed as reinforcing that trend by anchoring the plan as a basis for negotiations while renewing the UN mission.
Algeria, which backs the Polisario Front and hosts Sahrawi refugee camps, argues that any erosion of the self-determination principle would be unacceptable.
Its choice to distance itself from the latest resolution, even as it recalibrates ties with Washington, shows how sensitive the file remains in Algiers.
For Somalia, the stakes are concrete. Algerian support has mattered on debt relief, security training, and diplomatic cover in multilateral forums. Morocco, meanwhile, offers scholarships, security cooperation, and the prospect of deeper trade and investment links, including in agriculture, fisheries, and tourism.
What happens next
For now, Mogadishu wants the December 6 statement to stand as its definitive word on Western Sahara: UN resolutions first, political talks between the two parties, support for the Secretary-General’s envoy, and a parallel commitment to strong ties with Morocco framed by mutual respect for sovereignty.
Much will depend on how Algeria reads that balance — and whether it sees the new language as enough to offset the optics of the Rabat communiqué.
Diplomats and analysts will also watch whether Somalia follows up with further messaging, quiet outreach in Algiers, or changes at the Foreign Ministry to reinforce the idea that foreign policy on sensitive issues cannot “run on autopilot,” as one official put it.
Somalia wanted neutrality on Western Sahara. After weeks of missteps, competing communiqués and nervous partners, it is now trying to write that neutrality down in black and white — and hoping both Rabat and Algiers accept the script.
