December 28, 2007 (LPAC)--In the midst of Cheney-directed attempts to destroy the Annapolis peace process, behind-the-scenes action still points to peace initiatives between Syria and Israel. On Dec. 28, Ha'aretz reported that the Israeli Foreign Ministry has formulated "a strategic plan to remove Syria from its radical axis" and has placed the Syrian peace issue as one of its main objectives for 2008.

Meanwhile, in an interview in Financial Times Deutchland, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Mekdad, who participated in the Annapolis talks, said that he hoped President Bush would intervene in Syrian-Israeli talks as, "it would be very difficult to reactivate the peace process without the U.S." Mekdad said he shared the view of President Bill Clinton, that 85% of all issues have been agreed upon, and the remaining issues, which are technical, could be solved in 35 minutes if the political will was there.