Israel cancels summit in aftermath of suicide bombing

JERUSALEM -- Israel's prime minister on Sunday canceled a planned summit with his Palestinian counterpart after a double suicide bombing at the Israeli port of Ashdod killed nine Israelis.

Aides to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his Palestinian counterpart, Ahmed Qureia, had met Sunday and planned to meet again today to finalize plans for their first summit since Qureia took office in October.

The summit had been tentatively scheduled for Tuesday.

Israeli officials called off the preparatory meeting and the summit in response to the bombing, an official in Sharon's office said.