THE Commonwealth of Britain and its former colonies on Friday postponed its summit in Australia after the leaders of Britain, Canada and India pulled out because of the suicide hijacking attacks on the United States. Australian Prime Minister John Howard said the Commonwealth had decided there was little point in holding its October 6-9 meeting of 45 world leaders without those key participants, and it was hoped the summit would be rescheduled for early next year. Speaking in the tropical eastern city of Brisbane, which had been due to host the event, Howard also said Queen Elizabeth had scrapped a visit to Australia and New Zealand as a result. – Reuters
Thursday September 27, 2001