NEW YORK, March 13: Democratic presidential candidate Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday denounced oil giant Halliburton’s planned relocation to Dubai.

“I think it raises a lot of very big concerns and we’re going to be looking into it in Washington,” Mrs Clinton said at a news conference in the Bronx.

“I think it’s disgraceful that American companies are more than happy to try to get no-bid contracts like Halliburton has, and then turn around and say, ‘You know, we’re not going to stay’.”

On Saturday, Halliburton CEO Dave Lesar announced that the conglomerate’s headquarters would move from Houston to Dubai, a booming city in the United Arab Emirates known for its liberal tax and residency laws. Lesar said the company’s business was now largely based in the Middle East and Asia.

Halliburton, which was headed by Vice-president Dick Cheney from 1995-2000, received several lucrative no-bid government contracts to manage the reconstruction of Iraq following the US-led invasion there.