The Mediterranean Union's first leader, Jordan's Ahmad Masa'deh, has quit the job after one year in office, saying conditions for the post had changed.

A statement from his office on Wednesday said "the general conditions against which he accepted to assume the job have changed."

He would "continue his support for a professionally sound and politically empowered secretariat...," the statement added.

Masa'deh, 41, a lawyer, who was an ambassador to the European Union and NATO in Brussels, took office with the 43-nation, Barcelona-based union in January 2010.

Launched at a Paris summit in July 2008, the Mediterranean Union groups all 27 EU member states, with countries in North Africa, the Balkans, the Arab world as well as Israel in a bid to foster cooperation in one of the world's most volatile regions.