The U.S. envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, will resign two years after taking the position, the White House has confirmed on Friday.
A number of reports emerged that Mitchell, a former Senator, would resign from his post. White House spokesperson Jay Carney said that President Barack Obama would have a statement regarding the departure later on Friday.
Mitchell, 77, is slated to first meet with Obama, unnamed officials told The Associated Press.
Both Obama and Mitchell were to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as meet with King Abdullah II of Jordan.
“I will say that this President’s commitment remains as firm as it was when he took office,” said Carney. “The fact that this is a hard issue, an extraordinarily hard issue, is not news to anyone in this room or anyone who’s ever attempted to work on it over these many years.”
Mitchell, who notably mediated a peace deal in Northern Ireland, was appointed by Obama in 2009. He attempted to negotiate a deal between Israeli and Palestinian officials to create a Palestinian state.
However, the peace process was unable to make much progress as the Palestinians objected to the construction of more Jewish settlements in the West Bank over the last year.
He resignation comes as the “Arab Spring” wave of unrest spreads across the Middle East and North Africa, already causing the dissolution of longstanding regimes in Egypt and Tunisa.
