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g8 summit that was, on short notice, moved to camp david in maryland.
WASHINGTON -- The White House abruptly announced Monday that it had scuttled plans to hold the upcoming G-8 economic summit in Chicago, and would instead host world leaders at the presidential retreat at Camp David in Maryland. It was an unusually late location change for a large and highly scripted international summit and came with little explanation from the White House. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel – the former White House chief of staff who personally lobbied President Barack Obama to hold the summit in Chicago – was informed only hours before the official announcement
The world's eight largest economies are represented in the G-8 and hosting duties for the annual summit are rotated among the member countries. The summits have become a target for large, and sometimes violent, protests in recent years, making security costs a concern for host cities. At least one protest group heralded the news as a major victory. But Joe Iosbaker of the United National Antiwar Committee in Chicago said protests would still go on during the NATO summit. Chicago officials began planning for the summits last summer, with city officials predicting it would give the city a chance to shine internationally, while the police rank-and-file worryied whether they would be prepared to handle the thousands of protesters expected to converge downtown.