Dawn in Maryland was a sky of blue and gold ribbons, coincidentally, the colors of the Navy Academy at Annapolis.

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Media were gathered together at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (above), wanded by State Department uniformed security officers, sniffed by dogs, then put on buses and taken to the Naval Academy campus.

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View of the media pit at the US Naval Academy Alumni Hall, where the filing center was set up.

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The bearer of written statements by the three leaders is surrounded by journalists as soon as she enters the pit.

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Media were kept right away from where the action was taking place, but we were given a live feed of the 11am remarks on the screen in the hall, which apparently is also known as the Bob Hope Performing Arts Center.

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Mahmud Abbas giving his address and a reporter waiting to go live being monitored in a makeshift broadcast center on the floor of the hall.

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Three men packing heat take a break during Ehud Olmert’s address. As well as these plainclothes diplomatic security officers, uniformed State Department security staff wearing bullet-proof vests under their shirts, and even Maryland State Police patrolled the hall. And we’re just the media!

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--PEACE—