(AFP) The police detained two men for "harassing" the United States embassy in Kuala Lumpur after the terror attacks on New York and Washington, a report said today.

A 38-year-old unemployed man was arrested for making crank phone calls to the mission while a 21-year-old motorcyclist was accused of making obscene gestures at an embassy guard, the Bernama news agency said.

Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told reporters that security will be tightened in 'strategic places' in the country following the attacks in the US.

"The police and armed forces will be on full alert, especially in strategic areas," he said, without revealing the areas.

High alert

US missions around the globe have been placed on high alert following Tuesday's incidents said to be perhaps the "worst ever" on American soil.

Two planes crashed into WTC's twin towers reducing the 110-storey building into a pile of rubble while another aircraft ploughed into the Pentagon.

The US suspects that the attacks were masterminded by 'Muslim terrorists' linked to its 'sworn enemy' Osama bin Laden.