Australia PM rejects 'sheriff' tag

Howard stressed Australia's friendly role

Australian Prime Minister John Howard has said he does not see his country as being Washington's security enforcer in South East Asia.

He was reacting to comments by US President George W Bush, who said he saw Australia as a "sheriff" in the region.

Washington has welcomed Canberra's unstinting support in the US war against terror, and the 2,000 Australian troops who fought alongside the US in Iraq.

President Bush starts a tour of the region on Friday, and Australia is one of the countries on his itinerary.

Mr Bush made the comments when asked by The Australian newspaper whether he agreed with a 1999 description of Australia as being the US' "deputy sheriff".

Mr Bush promptly gave Australia a promotion.

"No. We don't see it as a deputy sheriff. We see it as a sheriff," he told the paper.

'Jocular'

However, Mr Howard on Friday said Australia's regional role was that of "helping your friends".

As an example, he cited the Australian peacekeeping operation in the Solomon Islands, where hundreds of troops and police were sent after the country slid to the brink of anarchy.

"Can I make it very clear: I don't see this country as being a sheriff, a deputy sheriff, as having any kind of enforcement role in our region," said Mr Howard.

"I have no doubt that George Bush's comments were jocular in the context of my having been to his ranch in Texas," he added.

Regional alarm

Mr Bush's remarks were never likely to go down well elsewhere in the region, where Malaysia's leader Mahathir Mohamad recently accused Australia of acting like a "deputy general" and a Western "transplant".

Malaysian's Deputy Defence Minister Shafie Apdal hit out at the comments on Thursday.

"I suppose America wants a puppet of its own in this region whom they can trust who will do whatever they wish," he told The Associated Press.

"We are quite capable of handling our own security," he added.

Philippines Foreign Secretary Blas Ople said that "Australia has an important role, but there is no sheriff in South East Asia".