US envoy to ISIS coalition stepping down: report

Retired Marine Gen. John Allen will step down as the White House’s envoy to the coalition against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), according to a report Tuesday.

Bloomberg reported Allen will be stepping down this fall, and that the White House is searching for a replacement.

{mosads}The State Department neither confirmed nor denied the report.

“General Allen remains focused on his duties at the State Department, coordinating Coalition efforts against ISIL. We have no personnel announcements to make,” State Department Press Secretary John Kirby said, using an alternate name for ISIS.

Bloomberg said the State Department was not ready to officially announce Allen’s departure, but that he has notified his superiors that he will leave in early November, marking just over a year in the position.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest also did not confirm or deny news of Allen’s departure. But Earnest praised his job performance and noted he has served 6 months beyond his original commitment.

“He is somebody who signed up for a six-month tour and he has been on the job for more than a year now,” Earnest said. “That is an indiction of the commitment to his service.”

Asked whether Obama had lost confidence in Allen in the fight against ISIS, Earnest said “of course not.”

He noted 62 countries are fighting the extremist group, including Turkey, a key regional power.

The anti-ISIS coalition is “far more broad and far more extensive than any of us expected a year ago,” Earnest said, adding that “General Allen certainly deserves a lot of credit in that.”

Allen was the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan. He retired in 2013, and was tapped as President Obama’s envoy to the coalition the next year.

Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said he could not confirm the report, and referred questions to the State Department.

“He’s done a great job in pushing the ball forward in terms of the diplomatic effort in the fight against ISIL and building up a coalition,” Cook added of Allen.

“We hold Gen. Allen in high regard for his work and appreciate the efforts that the made,” he said.

– Updated at 6:28 p.m.