Jerusalem hotel witness to war and peace

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators planned to resume peace talks Wednesday at the historic King David hotel, which has been at the center of fighting and peacemaking for longer than Israel has been a state or the Palestinians have been trying to build one.

But Israel announced late Tuesday that the session was being moved to an undisclosed location. No reason was given.

In recent months, the hotel has been one of the venues for meetings between Israeli and Palestinian teams preparing for periodic summit sessions between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Opened in 1931, when Britain ruled the Holy Land under an international mandate, the elegant building overlooking Jerusalem's walled Old City was partially requisitioned to house British administrators and military commanders. That made it a target for Jewish militants fighting to drive the British out. In 1946 they bombed the hotel, killing 91 people.

When the British pulled out in 1948, Israel declared statehood and seized control of the western part of Jerusalem, while Jordanian troops took over the eastern side of the city. The King David, just inside the western sector, found itself overlooking the no-man's-land between the two sides and facing Jordanian sniper positions.

Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war, pushing the Jordanian army out. Since then, the King David has provided lodging to visiting royalty, heads of state, diplomats and movie stars.

In 1977, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat stayed there on his groundbreaking visit that paved the way for Egypt's peace treaty with Israel. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger made the hotel his headquarters during his frequent diplomacy missions in the 1970s, and President Jimmy Carter was another prominent guest.

President Clinton stayed there in 1994 on his way to preside over the signing of the Jordan-Israel peace agreement.