African Union Peace and Security Commissioner

H.E. Amb. Smaїl Chergui is an Algerian diplomat, born on 4 September 1956. He was re-elected Commissioner of the African Union Peace and Security Commission after a four-year term. Ambassador Chergui has more than 30 years of experience in the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and more than 20 years in a position of high responsibility. He has extensive experience in the management of pan-African affairs, in particular as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Algeria.

In 2008, H.E. Amb. Chergui was appointed as Algerian Ambassador to the Russian Federation, following his tenure as Consul General in Geneva, Switzerland. Between 1997 and 2004, he served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Algeria to Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Djibouti, where he played a significant role in negotiating the Algiers Agreement that ended the Eritrean-Ethiopian War. During the same period, he served as the Permanent Representative of Algeria to the Organisation of African Union (OAU), then the African Union (AU), and to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). 

H.E. Amb. Chergui started his diplomatic career in 1980 with the Algerian Ministry of Foreign affairs after graduation from University. He has worked at the Algerian embassy in Morocco and the Press Department of the Algerian Foreign Affairs ministry before heading the Foreign Minister's chancellery.