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Neena Bhandari in Sydney
The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, scheduled to commence on October six in Brisbane, Australia, was postponed on Friday in the wake of the September 11 terror strikes in the United States.
Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon said in a statement that the decision was taken after consulting world leaders, including Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Australian leader John Howard.
The statement said the decision to postpone the meet was taken in the light of the likely absence of a significant number of world leaders due to the September 11 attacks on the US.
"CHOGM has been deferred purely for practical reasons. In these uncertain times it is easy to understand the desire of the political leaders to be with their own people, in their own countries," Mckinnon said.
He said, "It is with a huge feeling of disappointment that I announce this decision, a feeling that I know will be shared right across the Commonwealth and beyond."
The three-day conference was due to be opened by the head of the Commonwealth, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, and 45 Commonwealth leaders were expected to attend.
PTI
The Attack on America: The Complete Coverage
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