UN special envoy to Syria threatens to quit over stalling

Brahimi, who took over from former UN leader Kofi Annan in August last year, is "itching to resign but being persuaded to hang on for a few more days," said one UN Security Council diplomat. "He has told everyone that he wants to leave, there is little hope that he will stay," an Arab diplomat at the United Nations told AFP.

Like Annan, Brahimi has been frustrated by international divisions over Syria.

Brahimi, 79, has been criticized by the Syrian opposition, and Assad's government said last week it would no longer cooperate with him. But the Arab League decision to recognize the opposition Syrian National Coalition as the legitimate government of Syria was the final straw for the veteran UN troubleshooter, diplomats said. "He wants to resign because he feels that the Arab League has taken themselves in a direction which is a bit different from the UN," said the Security Council diplomat.