LONDON -- Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has resigned as Middle East peace envoy, a role he has held for eight years since his departure from Downing Street, local media reported Wednesday quoting diplomatic sources.
Blair took up his role as Middle East envoy immediately after he stood down as British prime minister in 2007.
The unpaid job was created to mediate the Israel-Palestinian conflict, representing the United States, Russia, the European Union(EU) and the UN, the so called "Quartet".
Blair has written to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moonto forward his resignation, BBC reported.
Blair remains "fully committed to assisting the international community in its work with Israel and the Palestinians to bring about progress on the two-state solution", the report quoted unnamed diplomatic sources as saying.
"He believes that he can best support these efforts through working with the key regional players, the USA, the EU and others, without any formal role," the sources added.
It is believed that Blair will formally announce his resignation at a later time.
