It's First Friends First

Seema Sirohi June 09, 2003 00:00 IST It's First Friends First -0001-11-30T00:00:00+05:53

It certainly is an "upgrade" from economy to business if not to first class. US President George Bush will host Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf at Camp David for a few hours and tempt the US' favourite general further into the new relationship. Although only a lunch date and not a sleep-over, the general still gets to sign the guest book right behind First Friends, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Spanish President Jose Maria Aznar. Not everyone is invited to the cozy cottage hidden inside a 200-acre, maximum security compound in the Catoctin Mountain Park, Maryland. Incidentally, a first class upgrade is a trip to Bush's Texas ranch.

So what's cooking—for lunch and otherwise?

It was at Camp David in 1978 that Israeli and Egyptian leaders negotiated in secret for 12 days under the watchful eye of President Jimmy Carter, producing the first peace agreement between Israel and an Arab neighbour. It was from this retreat that Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill planned the Allies' invasion of Europe during World War II. Bush and Musharraf, scheduled to meet...