Apple cancels European event

Apple Computer has cancelled its major upcoming conference due to last week's terrorist attacks.

On Monday Apple announced it would cancel its Apple Expo 2001 in Paris, its main event in Europe, which had been set for 26-31 September. The company linked the decision to concerns over air travel following last Tuesday's events, in which terrorists hijacked several passenger airlines, destroyed the World Trade Center and attacked the Pentagon.

"We're cancelling Apple Expo in the wake of last week's devastating and tragic events," said Steve Jobs, Apple's chief executive, in a statement. "We're sorry to disappoint our users and developers, but their safety is our primary concern."

Several other conferences and business events have been cancelled in the wake of the terrorist attacks, including Red Hat Techworld and forums from Via Technologies and Lotus.

Red Hat recently called off its own European event, Techworld Brussels, which was due to start on Monday. The company blamed the sluggish economy. "We heard from many customers that wanted to attend but couldn't afford the travel," Red Hat said in a statement on its Web site. "Due to budget cuts and the economy, many companies are cutting back on travel allocations."

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