The Syrian ambassador to Washington told CNN on Sunday that the election of Barack Obama gave him reason to be optimistic that Israel and Syria could clinch a peace deal, and that he was not deterred by the prospects of working with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. "Personally I believe it is better to deal with someone like Lieberman than it is to do deal with someone like [former foreign minister Tzipi] Livni," Imad Moustapha told CNN on Sunday. "At least Lieberman is candid. He exactly says what he believes in. Tzipi Livni and her colleagues were talking all the time about their desire to make peace while committing the atrocity in Gaza or doing other similar things in the Palestinian territories."
