SYDNEY, Sept 12: The arrest and planned deportation of a peace activist from the United States sparked a political row in Australia on Monday, with an opposition leader accusing the government of pandering to Washington.

Greens Party leader Bob Brown said he had serious concerns about the reasons for the arrest of Scott Parkin given his history of activism against US military contractor Halliburton, which has close ties to US Vice President Dick Cheney.

“I think the big question here is whether it’s a political arrest and deportation,” Brown said. “It seems to have nothing to do with terrorism.

“The (Prime Minister John) Howard government will do whatever Washington asks of it and I am very concerned the request for his arrest came in the wake of information from Washington ... because he’s an absolute thorn in the side of Dick Cheney, Halliburton and profit-making deals that apply in Iraq.”

Parkin, who has reportedly been arrested in the US in the past and took part in a recent protest in Sydney against Halliburton, was detained on Saturday as he sat at a cafe in Melbourne where he was teaching at peace activism workshops.

Howard is a close ally of US President George W. Bush and Australia contributed troops to the US-led invasions of both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Brown said he doubted the order for Parkin’s arrest had come from Australia’s security services, given that he was cleared for a visa months ago.

Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone had made the decision to detain the American after a security check.

Parkin has been in Australia since June, and prominent human rights lawyer Julian Burnside said he wanted to know why it took so long for authorities to act if he was a security threat.

“They’ve got the right but the question is whether that right has been exercised in a way that provides sufficient protection for ordinary citizens of Australia,” he said.

Parkin’s arrest came days after Howard announced plans for tough new legislation aimed at curbing terrorism, including detention without charge for up to two weeks and the electronic tagging of suspects for up to a year.—AFP