With choppers cruising the
oceanfront as part of a massive show of security, Sea Island landscapers put the
final polish on the already beautifully groomed resort destination as part of
last-minute preparation for the Group of Eight summit, an international event
that will bring together the leaders of the world's most powerful industrialized
democracies this week on the tiny island. Large green-and-white presidential
helicopters have been making practice landings on a just-widened section of the
Sea Island causeway, blocking traffic between St. Simons Island and its smaller,
wealthier neighbor. Stuck in traffic on the bucolic two-lane route, Helen
Peppiatt, who divides her time between the island and Lexington, Ky., climbed
out of her Land Rover and snapped pictures of the helicopters hovering over
spring-green marshes, sea myrtle and cabbage palms. "This is kind of exciting,"
she said. For residents of the resort community, the excitement is just
beginning as the long-awaited summit arrives. President Bush will land tonight
at nearby Hunter Army Airfield and will be whisked by helicopter to Sea Island,
where the leaders of Canada, Italy, France, Germany, Japan, Russia and Britain
will join him Tuesday. For three days, the leaders will discuss Iraq, terrorism,
the Middle East morass, Africa's development and the global economy. The annual
summits help set the world's political and economic agendas for the following
year and, as such, draw anti-globalization protesters. Ghazi al-Yawer, the new
president of the interim government in Iraq, will attend the summit, as will
other leaders from the Middle East, including kings, princes and prime
ministers. Bush has also invited six African leaders.
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