AFP - The United States on Saturday called on Syria to release 78-year-old detained human rights lawyer Haitham Maleh and end its practice of "arbitrary arrests" of activists.

"We join the United Kingdom, France and other concerned international parties in expressing our deep concern regarding the detention of human rights lawyer Haitham Maleh by Syrian security services" since October 14, the White House said in a statement.

"Syria should demonstrate its commitment to international legal norms by releasing Maleh and other Syrian citizens who have been imprisoned solely for seeking to exercise their internationally recognized political freedoms."

President Barack Obama's office also condemned Syria's "two-year crackdown" on lawyers and civil society activists.

"We call on the Syrian government to meet its responsibilities under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and to end its practice of arbitrary arrests," the White House said.

Maleh was held behind bars between 1980 and 1986 along with a large number of trade union and opposition figures for issuing a call for constitutional reforms, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Syria was set to sign a partnership deal with the European Union on October 26, but Damascus has said it wants to study the agreement in detail.

The EU and Syria first drew up the draft pact in 2004 but it was never signed by EU nations. The Netherlands had demanded a clause allowing for its suspension in the event of proven rights abuses.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem recently warned in Paris that "political conditions" would be unacceptable under any final accord.