Veteran negotiator pursues Syria 'mission impossible'

GENEVA (Reuters) - The job was too much for Kofi Annan. The Nobel Peace Prize-winning former U.N. secretary general - hardly known as a quitter - threw in the towel in August 2012, declaring that serving as international mediator for Syria was impossible as long as global powers were hopelessly divided.

Few expected much progress from Annan's replacement. But since taking on the role, Lakhdar Brahimi, an 80-year-old Algerian diplomat with decades of experience in some of the world's most intractable conflicts, has steadfastly refused to give up on what is expected to be his final mission: seeking an end to Syria's civil war.