City Rolls Out Red Carpet for NATO Summit

A presidential motorcade files past the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington. (Reginald A. Pearman, Jr. — WPNI) Related Links Centerpiece of the Summit Mellon Auditorium Gets Polish Celebration Is Out. Commemoration Is In Q&A: How to Prepare Map of Street, Office Closings

By Peter Slevin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 23, 1999; Page B1

With military helicopters lightening the work of motorcades, the evening rush hour started early and passed without a new hitch yesterday as waves of foreign dignitaries arrived for the NATO alliance's 50th anniversary summit, the largest ever in Washington.

The federal heart of the city will be buttoned up as never before when the leaders of the 19 North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries meet today to discuss the war in Yugoslavia and commemorate the first 50 years of the alliance.

By tonight, motorcades will be darting across Washington with sirens blaring as the NATO leaders and presidents and prime ministers from 23 other countries zip among three days of meetings, receptions and dinners.

"This is the quiet before the storm," D.C. Police Cmdr. Michael Radzilowski said at 5 p.m.

A few hours later, there were a few pockets of traffic in the central city, particularly on streets to and from Virginia, as officers started cordoning off parts of the Federal Triangle area. Streets around MCI Center were crowded at 10:30 p.m., but a few blocks away, motorcades carrying dignitaries sped down a deserted Pennsylvania Avenue, their blue and red lights flashing.

As many as 90,000 federal workers who report to offices downtown have been granted the day off today, with a quarter-million government employees in the District and Arlington urged to take a vacation day or work from home.

Summit organizers and city leaders, nearing the culmination of 12 months of planning and fretting, are monitoring protesters and partygoers alike as the summit begins against the backdrop of war.

Outside the Turkish Embassy last night, about 150 protesters of Armenian, Kurdish and Greek descent demonstrated as scores of diplomats arrived for a state reception. Most of the protesters urged the U.S. and Turkish governments to recognize what they described as Armenian genocide at the hands of the Turks during World War I.

"We're asking for a stance for human rights," said Alex Sardan, 25, an Armenian American. "Until we can acknowledge the Armenian genocide, we'll see scenes like those in Kosovo."

More than 3,000 media representatives have received credentials to cover the 1,700 delegates in town for the event. At the Ronald Reagan Building – summit central for the three-day gathering – television crews and news reporters staked out work space as workers in cherry pickers adorned the atrium with NATO symbols and carpeted its polished floors. Drills whirred, volunteers bustled and busy-looking people talked urgently into two-way radios.

The Russians may be boycotting the summit, but their blue, white and red flag hangs alongside the others belonging to NATO and the Partnership for Peace group. For the first time at a top-level NATO meeting, the flags of Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic hang with those of their former Cold War enemies.

Signs in English and French, NATO's official languages, pointed the way to news filing centers and the first aid station. No Smoking signs appeared in four languages.

"Would you be so kind as to tell me . . . what is CSIS?" Polish public television reporter Piotr Krasko asked a woman at the U.S. Information Agency help desk, referring to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. A Nippon TV reporter asked where to find the broadcast filing center. Someone else wanted to know where the Greek prime minister was speaking.

Two floors down, a booth sold commemorative NATO pins and cuff links for $50, with 25 percent of the proceeds headed to Save the Children on behalf of Kosovo refugees. In the same corridor, the U.S. Postal Service offered stamps, ties and Donald Duck T-shirts.

NATO anniversary envelopes with 33-cent U.S. stamps canceled by "NATO Summit 50th Anniversary Station" were for sale for $2. Special NATO 50th stamps became a casualty of the Kosovo crisis, said postal supervisor Carolyn Fowler-Smith: "They decided not to issue the stamp until all the issues are resolved. Because of the conflict."

Flower shops across town bustled, with extra orders coming from foreign embassies and hotels. One of the busiest was a small shop near Eastern Market called the Floral Studio, the official florist of the summit.

French delphiniums. Asian oncidium orchids. Latin American roses. Local dogwood. Floral designer Rance Goff, 31, rushed to finish dozens of floral arrangements destined for rooms inside the Mellon Auditorium, site of today's ceremony in honor of NATO's first 50 years.

"It's important to us not only from a historical perspective but also because it's our moment in the sun," said Goff, arranging orchids for the presidential suite and bathroom. He prepared more than 30 arrangements in all, with each flower selected to peak now and show well in photographs.

Inside the auditorium, where the North Atlantic Treaty was signed by 12 foreign ministers in 1949, crews labored to finish a fix-up that began weeks ago. About half of the 45 men and women are disabled. They will work through the weekend, vacuuming, dusting and removing trash between summit events.

"I'll be here the whole time," said supervisor Michael Dean. "I said goodbye to my family this morning. I may be down in a room sleeping for a little bit, but I'll be here till Sunday night."

At South Capitol and I streets, Tim Temple's responsibilities stretched all the way to the street, and so did the dollar signs. Temple, 62, runs Splash Car Wash, the facility nearest the summit's staging area at the D.C. Armory. Cars were all lined up – U.S. Park Police cruisers, unmarked Secret Service sedans, new NATO limousines, Mercedeses and Cadillacs.

"It's been rocking and rolling every single day," Temple said, grinning. "They're coming through like cheap food through a duck."

NATO's military drivers, who for security reasons must never allow their vehicles to be out of sight, mingled with uniformed police officers as eight women wiped windows and applied tire shine.

Hundreds of the cars are among $8 million in private cash, goods and services raised by the summit's host committee, composed largely of corporate donors, including the big three automakers, Ameritech Corp., Boeing Co., TRW Inc., Honeywell Inc. and Microsoft Corp. The U.S. government will spend more than $15 million on the effort, said a summit spokesman.

As NATO leaders assemble inside the ornate Mellon Auditorium on Constitution Avenue for today's midday ceremony, peace activists will stage a street theater down the block, using actors and puppets to portray world leaders. One prop will be a mock 30-foot nuclear missile.

Organizers at the Fourth Freedom Forum, a research organization that seeks alternatives to war, have been planning the rally for three months. Its original purpose was to demand that NATO forswear nuclear weapons, but since the bombing of Yugoslavia began, the protest has been expanded to other NATO issues.

Across town, sirens blared at 3:40 p.m. at the Madison Hotel. Everyone moved into place for the arrival of Turkish President Suleyman Demiral. A passel of Turkish diplomats lined up to receive their president. Hotel manager Randolph Kulp oversaw the laying of a 24-foot red carpet.

False alarm. The carpet was folded back up. At 3:56, more sirens. This time, it was Demirel. A female hotel worker welcomed the president and handed his wife a dozen white roses. The Turkish officials shook their president's hand and then touched the top of his wrist with their foreheads, a traditional Turkish gesture of welcome.

"It's controlled chaos," said a Secret Service agent.

At Andrews Air Force Base, where a record 22 delegations touched down yesterday, diplomats smoothed their own way by bringing less baggage than the military expected. There was a challenging moment, however, when the Moldovan delegation arrived an hour earlier than expected.

Andrews was ready with twin red carpets, managing to stage simultaneous arrival ceremonies for the Moldovans and the Azerbaijanis, reported Lt. Col. Jim Brydon. More arrivals are scheduled for today. The red carpets will be ready.

Staff writers Maria Elena Fernandez, Steven Gray, Hamil R. Harris, Cindy Loose, Caryle Murphy, Philip P. Pan, Alan Sipress and Debbi Wilgoren contributed to this report.