Feb 19, 2018

Washington — John Hannah, who served as national security adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney, will not take the job of US Syria envoy, Al-Monitor has learned.

Hannah had been in advanced negotiations with the Donald Trump administration about the position, but ultimately decided against going back into the US government at this time, a person familiar with the deliberations said Sunday, speaking not for attribution. Hannah declined to comment.

Hannah, currently a senior counselor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, served as Cheney’s deputy national security adviser for the Middle East from 2001 to 2004 and national security adviser from 2005 to 2009. He previously worked as a senior State Department official in both the Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush administrations, including on the policy planning staff under veteran Middle East peace negotiator Dennis Ross.

Expectation for the appointment had come as the Trump administration has sought a heavyweight diplomat or retired general to fill the envoy role to try to bolster stalled UN-led negotiations to find a political resolution to the Syrian conflict.

Washington has been consulting with like-minded countries on mechanisms to advance the Geneva negotiations, led by UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura. But de Mistura, speaking after briefing the UN Security Council last week, acknowledged that what the parties are even negotiating about is in dispute.