After nearly two years of grappling with the various groups embroiled in the Syrian uprising, the UN and Arab League’s peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has thrown in the towel and resigned.

Reconciling the Western and Russian positions and mediating between other significant players such as Iran and Qatar proved impossible.

“It’s very sad that I leave this position and leave Syria behind in such a bad state. I have absolutely no doubt that you will continue, as you have to do everything that is humanly possible,” he said, standing alongside the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

He will officially quit his post at the end of May, more than a year after the Algerian diplomat indicated he would step down. The failure of peace talks in Geneva between the Syrian government and opposition, and President Bashar al-Assad’s decision to stand again for re-election next month proved to be the final straws.

Tunisia’s former foreign minister Kamel Morjane is thought to be the frontrunner to replace him.