Clinton under guard in Australia

Clinton in Australia

By staff and wires

BRISBANE, Australia -- The terror strikes on New York and Washington caught Australian Prime Minister John Howard and former U.S. President Bill Clinton away from their homes.

Clinton was taking a break in the Australian resort of Port Douglas, where he was placed under guard, while Howard was in the United States.

Clinton had been taking a break in the northern state of Queensland after recent speaking engagements in Sydney and Melbourne.

He arrived in the resort town Tuesday morning and spent the day snorkeling and speaking with locals.

VIDEO Former President Bill Clinton speaks out about the attacks on Tuesday while in Australia Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

But he was kept out of sight Wednesday as police threw a security cordon around him.

Clinton had been scheduled to travel to Taiwan on Wednesday but postponed his trip.

"He'll obviously want to return to the U.S. as soon as possible," Queensland Premier Peter Beattie said.

Howard was able to offer on-the-spot support to Australia's large ally and was feted on Washington's Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, meanwhile, was stranded in Austria as many airlines canceled flights to the United States and U.S. airports remained closed Wednesday morning.

Gore was in Vienna, where he had been scheduled to speak to the Internet Service Providers Austria on the future of the Internet. In a written statement to the Austria Press Agency, Gore condemned the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington as "an unspeakably evil act."