UPDATE/ 3:50 p.m. -- As the representatives from the 40-plus nations filed out of the Naval Academy's Memorial Hall, ABC's Jon Karl asked Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faysal Mekdad what he thought of the peace conference.
Mr. Mekdad shrugged, put out his hands at waist level, and said, "Hopeful."
Here is a complete list of the countries attending today's Middle East peace conference today in Annapolis, at the U.S. Naval Academy.
Representatives from each country are seated in a horseshoe-shaped arrangement inside the large and historic Memorial Hall, facing a stage and lectern at the open end of the horseshoe. The countries are seated in alphabetical order, with the Arab League seated to the left of the stage, if you are facing the stage.
For some reason, the one exception to the alphabetical listing is Portugal, which is at the end, on the right of the stage. Special thanks to Mike Abramowitz of the Post, who jotted these down before Secret Service restricted movement around the room.
Left side:
Arab League
Algeria
Austria
Bahrain
Brazil
Canada
China
Denmark
Egypt
France
Germany
Greece
India
Indonesia
Italy
Closed end of horseshoe:
Japan
Jordan
Lebanon
Malaysia
Mauritania
Morocco
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Poland
Quatar
Right side:
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Slovenia
South Africa
Spain
Sudan
Sweden
Syria
Tunisia
Turkey
UAE
U.K.
Yemen
Portugal
-- Jon Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times
Comments (1)
I think that it is good that peace talks are being held. Even if the conflict still continues it is a sign that things may finally be calming down in the reigon. If this is a successful conference then if will be a great accomplishment to bring peace to the area. this is not pointless a all.
Posted by BigB | November 29, 2007 10:32 PM