Sun 30 Sep 2007 04:54
Washington: Annapolis, the 300-year-old city that hosted the Continental Congress and served as the country’s first capital, will add another chapter to its rich history by hosting a Middle East peace meeting late in November at the US Naval Academy.
US officials said the Bush administration selected the academy in part because it provides a secure facility convenient to Washington. Also, they said, unlike the presidential retreat at Camp David and the Wye Plantation, which are both in Maryland as well, the academy is not associated with unsuccessful peace efforts during the Clinton administration.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will host the meeting of Arab and Israeli leaders to discuss terms for a Palestinian state and peace with Israel. President Bush is widely expected to address the meeting at some point.
As news of the meeting spread, local historians drew parallels to the Annapolis of years past. It was in Annapolis that George Washington resigned to Congress as military leader in 1783. The country’s first war, the American Revolution, drew to a close in Annapolis, noted State Archivist Edward Papenfuse.
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"This was where Congress ratified the Treaty of Paris in 1784, which brought peace and established us as a nation among nations on the international scene," he said. "So it’s very fitting historically to be bringing international discussions of peace here again."
The news was met with surprise, excitement and a measure of trepidation in a city already bracing for a possible special session of the state legislature in early November.
"There’s obviously a great advantage of having the city of Annapolis the centre of the world for a few days," said Bob Burdon, president of the Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce.
Still, he said, "the streets of Annapolis have not been widened since the horse and buggy age".
Concerns about how a city of roughly seven square miles will handle a surge of media and dignitaries were quickly set aside when Annapolitans considered the magnitude of the occasion - and the opportunity to be forever linked to a historic peace pact, like Camp David and Dayton, Ohio.
"I can’t think of a more perfect place," said Annapolis Mayor Ellen Moyer, who learned of the event from news accounts on Friday. "I’m honoured, absolutely honoured, that we would be connected."
Moyer noted that the city is accustomed to the periodic swelling in population that comes with the annual legislative session and to major events like graduation at the academy, where the country’s presidents periodically have delivered commencement speeches.
The Bush administration has given only a general idea of which parties may be invited and no indication of the agenda or goals. The gap is still wide on many of the basics.
The administration has tried to lower expectations for the diplomatic effort, first announced by President Bush amid much fanfare on July 16. US officials initially billed it as a conference, but quickly changed the framework to a "meeting".