U.N.'s Arab League envoy Brahimi resigns

UNITED NATIONS, May 13 (UPI) -- Lakhdar Brahimi, United Nations-League of Arab States' special envoy, has resigned, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced Tuesday.

Ban said the departure of Brahimi, who for the past two years has attempted to mediate the turmoil in Syria, is "a tragedy for the Syrian people," as well as a failure for the U.N. He referred to strains as "hopelessly divided."

Brahimi, who was present at the briefing at which his resignation was announced, added he was "very, very sad to leave Syria in such a bad state," noting more death and destruction would occur "before Syria can become a new Syria."

Ban added Brahimi, 80, an Algerian diplomat, faced almost impossible odds in mediating in a region whose people, as well as the international community, are "hopelessly divided in their approaches to ending the conflict."

The Syria conflict, which began in 2011, has claimed over 100,000 lives. Over 680,000 have been injured and over 9.3 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. It has also begun a refugee crisis in which 2.5 million people have taken refuge in other countries.