Tony Blair resigns as Mideast peace envoy — Source

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has submitted his resignation as Middle East peace envoy after eight years on the post.

A source close to the former prime minister said on condition of anonymity, on Wednesday in London that Blair wrote to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to confirm that he would relinquish his role.

The resignation will take effect when Blair has fulfilled his outstanding commitments as Quartet representative in June, the source said.

The sources said Blair remained fully committed to assisting the international community in its work with Israel and the Palestinians to bring about progress on the two-state solution.

“He believes that he can best support these efforts through working with the key regional players, the U.S., EU and others, without any formal role.’’

His resignation came shortly after the fourth government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took office.

The source said a formal announcement on Blair’s resignation, would come up later on Wednesday at a meeting of Quartet officials in Brussels.