The next meeting of G8 leaders will not be held in Chicago after all, in anticipation that the event would attract large numbers of demonstrators.

 

President Barack Obama made the call to relocate the meeting of leaders of the world’s largest economies to Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland. A White House aide said Obama preferred a more “intimate” setting for the G8, which will discuss economic, political and security issues on May 18 and 19.

 

Chicago will still host the NATO and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) summit, also scheduled for May 20 and 21.

 

“It’s not about Chicago being able to handle logistics, as evidenced by the fact that the NATO and ISAF meetings will be held there, which are far larger than the G8 meeting,” Caitlin Hayden, a spokeswoman for Obama’s National Security Council, told the Chicago Tribune.

 

Protesters are expected to converge on Chicago anyway, even though the G8 was their major target.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

G-8 Summit To Be Held At Camp David, Not Chicago (by Christi Parsons, Chicago Tribune)