APS : MONDAY 22 JANUARY 2018
ALGIERS-Foreign Minister Abdelkader Messahel on Monday said that Algeria would not stand for the new 2018-2019 mandate within the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union (AU).
In response to a question from the host of “Invité de la redaction” programmme on channel III of the Algerian radio on the agenda of the next AU summit and the renewal of the two thirds (2/3) of the PSC component, Messahel stated that “Algeria, whose mandate expires at the end of this month, will not stand for the new mandate 2018-2019 but will be a candidate for a three-year term in 2019 under the implementation of the rotation principle between member countries.”
In this regard, Messahel recalled that Algeria had already abstained from standing for the 2010-2013mandate.
Explaining the link between “being a PSC member and the position of commissioner for AU’s peace and security,” Messahel said that “we must distinguish between the quality of member of the Council and the position of Commissioner for Peace and Security, held by Ambassador Smail Chergui until 2021.”
