Algeria was forced to find another member to defend its positions at the African Union Commission after the departure of its president Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. The president of the Peace and Security Council, Smail Chergui, is expected to assume the role previously played by the South African official. In fact he met last night with Horst Kohler, the new UN personal envoy to Western Sahara. The personal envoy of the United Nations Secretary General for Western Sahara, Horst Kohler met on Tuesday, 19th of September, in New York with the president of the African Union Peace and Security Council (CPS), Smail Chergui, an Algerian diplomat. «The meeting between the two men lasted more than expected», says a source close to the matter. Previously, the neighbouring country relied mainly on the former president of the AU Commission, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. The South African official, during four years, has fiercely defended the theses claimed by the Polisarion Front. This was confirmed through the various messages on the same subject sent to the former UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon. Smail Chergui to replace Zuma The departure of Dlamini-Zuma after the Addis Ababa Summit in January 2017 left Algeria and the Polisario Front helpless, especially since her successor, Moussa Faki Mahamat, has opted for neutrality. The latter decided not to mention the Western Sahara conflict when holding talks with Antonio Guterres in New York. Smail Chergui, as a President of the Peace and Security Council, had accompanied Mahamat in his visit to New York. For the record, Morocco has already accused the CPS of being «subjective». The organization, totally controlled by Algeria and South Africa, adopted last July a resolution calling Morocco and the «SADR» to «have direct and serious talks and to cooperate with the political organs of the AU, the Commission and the High Representative of the AU for Western Sahara», the Mozambican Joaquin Chissano .
