Diplomats, politicians and - oh, no - press (Baltimore Sun)

[GreatAmerican]

<p>[Academy</a> to host Mideast peace talks next week - Navy News, opinions, editorials, news from Iraq, photos, reports - Navy Times](<a href=“http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/11/ap_peacetalks_071120/]Academy”>http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/11/ap_peacetalks_071120/)</p>

<p>

The Bush administration said Tuesday it will inaugurate peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians next week, ending a seven-year lull, with a conference of leaders and diplomats the U.S. hopes will help shepherd a final Mideast settlement.</p>

<p>Organizers said the meeting will take place Monday through Wednesday in Washington and at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., but revealed few other details, saying it was too soon to know which of the 49 invited nations and organizations would attend…

</p>

[GreatAmerican]

<p>Over 100 officials asked; Saudi response unclear</p>

<p>[U.S&lt;/a&gt;. voices optimism on talks – baltimoresun.com](<a href=“http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/world/bal-te.summit21nov21,0,5567196.story?coll=bal_tab01_layout]U.S”>http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/world/bal-te.summit21nov21,0,5567196.story?coll=bal_tab01_layout)</p>

<p>

The U.S. government sent formal invitations to more than 100 diplomats expected to attend a Middle East conference in Annapolis on Tuesday, according to U.S. officials who formally announced the conference last night after a daylong delay.</p>

<p>The conference, intended by President Bush to give impetus for future hard negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis, was formally announced only after Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made last-minute calls to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and others, White House and State Department officials said…

</p>

[GreatAmerican]

<p>Brevity of event limits city’s options</p>

<p>[Locals</a> eager to play hosts – baltimoresun.com](<a href=“http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/world/bal-md.ar.preparations21nov21,0,125668.story?coll=bal_tab01_layout]Locals”>http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/world/bal-md.ar.preparations21nov21,0,125668.story?coll=bal_tab01_layout)</p>

<p>

The date is finally set, and the invitations to guests of next week’s Mideast peace conference in Annapolis have been sent. And in the host city for Tuesday’s talks, locals are looking to find even the smallest ways to take part.</p>

<p>The city is expected to have a very limited role in the international event, but the local government and businesses are relishing the chance to welcome foreign diplomats and hundreds of media representatives - even if that means only lining the streets with American flags, putting out “peace” cookies for hotel guests or even renaming a sandwich for a dignitary…

</p>

[GreatAmerican]

<p>[Mayor</a> Ellen Moyer issues proclamation – baltimoresun.com](<a href=“http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/world/bal-proclamation1120,0,3437851.story?coll=bal_tab01_layout]Mayor”>http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/world/bal-proclamation1120,0,3437851.story?coll=bal_tab01_layout)</p>

<p>

Mayor Ellen Moyer of the City of Annapolis has issued the following Proclamation welcoming the upcoming Mideast Peace Conference to Annapolis.</p>

<p>WHEREAS, this month, the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis will host the first major Middle East peace talks to take place in nearly 7 years;</p>

<p>WHEREAS, the quest for Middle East peace is a vitally important goal, and;…

</p>

[GreatAmerican]

<p>High Saudi official pledges to attend, boosting credibility</p>

<p>[Arab</a> League nations coming – baltimoresun.com](<a href=“http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/world/bal-te.mideast24nov24,0,1103868.story?coll=bal_tab01_layout]Arab”>http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/world/bal-te.mideast24nov24,0,1103868.story?coll=bal_tab01_layout)</p>

<p>

Saudi Arabia and other key Arab nations agreed yesterday to attend a U.S.-sponsored peace conference next week in Annapolis, a move that added credibility to Washington’s attempt to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict before President Bush leaves office.</p>

<p>The political guessing game over which countries would take part ended here when the Arab League announced that Cabinet-level representatives from its major states, except for Syria, would travel to the meeting in Annapolis. The critical nod came from Saudi Arabia, a strong U.S. ally, which overcame its reservations and indicated that Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal will attend…

</p>

[GreatAmerican]

<p>[Academy</a> closed during peace conference - Navy News, opinions, editorials, news from Iraq, photos, reports - Navy Times](<a href=“http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/11/navy_academy_closure_071126w/]Academy”>http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/11/navy_academy_closure_071126w/)</p>

<p>

The Naval Academy will be closed to the public Monday and Tuesday in anticipation of a peace conference that will be attended by Israeli president Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas.</p>

<p>Representatives of 39 other nations, the European Union, and the Arab League have also been invited to the conference, which the Washington Post has reported will take place in a ceremonial hall inside a Naval Academy building that houses more than 4,000 midshipmen.</p>

<p>Midshipmen will attend classes both days, but a statement released by the Naval Academy said restrictions would be placed on “certain Naval Academy facilities” during the conference…

</p>

<p>It sounds like the conference will take place in Memorial Hall.</p>

[GreatAmerican]

<p>Syria’s decision to attend raises hopes of progress</p>

<p>[Momentum</a> builds for session – baltimoresun.com](<a href=“http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/world/bal-te.summit26nov26,0,7860966.story?coll=bal_tab01_layout]Momentum”>http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/world/bal-te.summit26nov26,0,7860966.story?coll=bal_tab01_layout)</p>

<p>

Momentum is accelerating toward a major Mideast conference in Maryland tomorrow, as Syria’s surprise decision to attend raised the potential for significant progress – and also increased the potential for dashed expectations and renewed violence.</p>

<p>Israeli and Palestinian officials struggled yesterday on a last-minute effort to hammer out a joint statement that the Bush administration hoped would lay the groundwork for serious negotiations in the immediate future. But disagreements remained over what that statement would say and what new actions each side should take to signal good intentions…

</p>

[GreatAmerican]

<p>Meeting is seen as a beginning</p>

<p>[Meeting</a> is seen as a beginning – baltimoresun.com](<a href=“http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/world/bal-te.protocol26nov26,0,4145038.story?coll=bal_tab01_layout]Meeting”>http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/world/bal-te.protocol26nov26,0,4145038.story?coll=bal_tab01_layout)</p>

<p>

Tomorrow’s Mideast peace conference, behind the walls that guard the U.S. Naval Academy campus, is surrounded by misconceptions. For starters, it’s not a negotiation.</p>

<p>No one will be locking Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas into a room, there to stay until they’ve solved some of the Middle East’s thorniest problems. Much of the arm-twisting associated with the conference will already have occurred by the time the leaders arrive in Annapolis – it’s what President Bush and the State Department have been doing for weeks, just to get them to show up…

</p>

[GreatAmerican]

<p>Jews, Muslims, Christians join call for Mideast settlement</p>

<p>[Interfaith</a> rally backs peace – baltimoresun.com](<a href=“http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/annearundel/bal-te.md.rally26nov26,0,3703663.story]Interfaith”>http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/annearundel/bal-te.md.rally26nov26,0,3703663.story)</p>

<p>

Ella Issacharoff knew exactly why she joined more than 100 people in Annapolis yesterday at an international and interfaith rally for peace.</p>

<p>“I want to represent the kids of Israel, and we would like peace with the Palestinian children,” said Ella, 12, an Israeli who now lives in Bethesda. “That way, when we grow up, we can be friends, and hopefully one day the Palestinians will have their own independent nation, and we can stand side by side as friends.”…

</p>

[GreatAmerican]

<p>Security around Annapolis to affect air, land, sea vehicles</p>

<p>[Conference</a> to disrupt city traffic – baltimoresun.com](<a href=“http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/annearundel/bal-te.md.ar.traffic25nov25,0,6703384.story]Conference”>http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/annearundel/bal-te.md.ar.traffic25nov25,0,6703384.story)</p>

<p>

Security will be heightened on the land, sea and air around the Naval Academy on Tuesday for the international peace conference behind its iron gates, though Annapolis officials predict that the city won’t see much of an impact.</p>

<p>“We might see some people that have to move their cars and stuff, but it’s a relatively short period of time. We’ve got one day to deal with,” said Ray Weaver, a city spokesman…

</p>

[GreatAmerican]

<p>On eve of negotiations, experts view event as the Bush administration’s
last chance to stabilize the region</p>

<p>[‘Failure</a> is not an option’ – baltimoresun.com](<a href=“Failure all around – Baltimore Sun”>http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/annearundel/bal-te.summit25nov25,0,1783677.story)</p>

<p>

A crush of diplomats is converging for Tuesday’s Middle East conference in Annapolis, most of them arriving from a region trembling with instability and growing extremism.</p>

<p>From Pakistan’s political turbulence to Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions, from beheadings of police in Afghanistan to street assassinations in Gaza to airstrikes in Iraq, the level of confrontation and fear has never seemed higher in a region that has perfected the practice of suicide bombing and has already seen more than its share of conventional war…

</p>

[GreatAmerican]

<p>Experts say Middle East talks a chance to boost credibility after Iraq setbacks</p>

<p>[Rice’s</a> legacy on the line at Annapolis conference – baltimoresun.com](<a href=“http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/annearundel/bal-te.rice25nov25,0,6766631.story]Rice’s”>http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/annearundel/bal-te.rice25nov25,0,6766631.story)</p>

<p>

While the Bush administration has worked to suppress expectations for the Middle East peace conference Tuesday in Annapolis, observers say the professional and political stakes for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are much harder to minimize.</p>

<p>An outcome resembling success could restore some of the former Stanford professor’s diplomatic credibility, they say, and perhaps add a line to her career’s postscript that doesn’t contain the word “Iraq.”…

</p>

[xchefmike]

<p>looks like the media are staged near hospital point I see the footbridge in the background.</p>

[GreatAmerican]

<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/27/washington/27prexy.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/27/washington/27prexy.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>

It might seem, after nearly seven years of deliberate detachment from Arab-Israeli peace negotiations, that President Bush has plunged into Middle Eastern diplomacy with Clintonesque energy.</p>

<p>He met with the Israel and Palestinian leaders at the White House on Monday and will do so again on Wednesday. On Tuesday, he will meet them at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., along with delegations from 46 countries and international organizations (including, after an arm-twisting by phone last week, Saudi Arabia)…

</p>

[GreatAmerican]

<p>Bush: Meeting will show whether peace is possible</p>

<p>[All</a> eyes on Annapolis – baltimoresun.com](<a href=“http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/world/bal-mideast1127,0,364409.story?coll=bal_tab01_layout]All”>http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/world/bal-mideast1127,0,364409.story?coll=bal_tab01_layout)</p>

<p>

With a rhetorical nod toward “a more hopeful vision” of freedom and prosperity in the Middle East, President Bush opened a peace conference last night aimed at spurring a comprehensive agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.</p>

<p>“We share a common goal – two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security,” Bush told conference participants on the eve of today’s daylong session at the U.S. Naval Academy campus in Annapolis…

</p>

[GreatAmerican]

<p>[World</a> – baltimoresun.com](<a href=“http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/world/bal-mideast-videos,0,5042988.worldnowvideo?coll=bal_tab01_layout]World”>http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/world/bal-mideast-videos,0,5042988.worldnowvideo?coll=bal_tab01_layout)</p>

[GreatAmerican]

<p>[Observers</a> voice hope, disapproval – baltimoresun.com](<a href=“http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/world/bal-te.to.scene27nov27,0,2019077.story?coll=bal_tab01_layout]Observers”>http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/world/bal-te.to.scene27nov27,0,2019077.story?coll=bal_tab01_layout)</p>

<p>

Ringing her Salvation Army bell near Annapolis City Dock yesterday, Christine O’Neill spoke of a subject more essential to this season than Midnight Madness shopping, decking out the house, frenetic caroling on the radio and all the other holiday headaches.</p>

<p>She spoke of peace…

</p>

[GreatAmerican]

<p>Photos from the gathering of Middle East leaders in Annapolis</p>

<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/world/bal-mideast-pg,0,2773251.photogallery?coll=bal_tab01_layout]baltimoresun.com[/url”>http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/world/bal-mideast-pg,0,2773251.photogallery?coll=bal_tab01_layout]baltimoresun.com[/url</a>]</p>

[GreatAmerican]

<p>Journalists from 70 nations cover talks</p>

<p>

About 800 journalists from an estimated 70 countries will be converging on Annapolis for today’s Middle East conference.</p>

<p>While many regard the conference with a jaundiced eye, few appear ready to write off the one-day gathering altogether.</p>

<p>“We’re treating this as a major event, giving it at least four pages in Tuesday’s edition and possibly more in Wednesday’s paper,” Amir Mizroch, news editor for The Jerusalem Post, wrote in an e-mail from Jerusalem yesterday. “It’s the first meeting of its kind in quite a while, and the fact that Israelis will be in the same room as Syrians and Saudis is important.”…

</p>

[GreatAmerican]

<p>Historic Memorial Hall will be site of events at conference</p>

<p>[Totem</a> of war, backdrop for peace – baltimoresun.com](<a href=“http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/world/bal-te.ar.academy27nov27,0,5132667.story?coll=bal_tab01_layout]Totem”>http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/world/bal-te.ar.academy27nov27,0,5132667.story?coll=bal_tab01_layout)</p>

<p>

As diplomats and world leaders gather at the U.S. Naval Academy today in hopes of laying the groundwork for a new Middle East peace agreement, they will be surrounded by reminders of the terrible cost of war.</p>

<p>Memorial Hall, where President Bush will kick off the conference this morning and the bulk of the official events will be held, is filled with tablets that carry the names of 2,623 fallen graduates, killed in conflicts dating to the Civil War.</p>

<p>Great battles and acts of heroism are shown in paintings and displays, such as a model explaining how a Marine officer nearly died after blowing up a bridge controlled by the North Vietnamese in 1972 and a giant flag bearing the words of a dying commander who urged his sailors in 1813: “Don’t give up the ship!”…

</p>