Opposition parties have condemnned the arrest of 56 people at a demonstration against rising prices, saying it was a sign of government paranoia ahead of general elections.

Twelve of the 56 have been released but the remainder - including Malaysiakini journalist Syed Jaymal Zahiid - are expected to be charged with illegal assembly today.

Hundreds of police surrounded Kuala Lumpur's iconic Petronas Twin Towers to prevent the protest from going ahead on Saturday, and hauled away demonstrators in trucks.

As they were driven off some shouted "Reformasi" or "Reform", the catchcry of dissident former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim who was sacked and jailed in 1998.

The rally - the latest in an unprecedented series of street protests - was aimed at highlighting public anger over rising food and fuel prices ahead of polls expected to be held in March.

"The brutal suppression of protesters... is a sign that the government is at a loss to resolve the fundamental problem of the sky-rocketing cost of living," Tian Chua, from Anwar's PKR, said in a statement.

"It is an over-reaction when more than 1,000 police officers were mobilised to stop the demonstration that merely expresses the people's discontent on impending hikes in fuel prices and other essential goods and services," said Tian, who is one of those being held.

A police over-reaction

Syed Jaymal, a journalist from news website Malaysiakini , one of the few independent media organisations in the country, was also caught up in the dragnet as he attempted to interview police.

"I'm definitely disturbed by this. It shows that police are not respecting the rights of journalists to do their job," said the website's editor in chief Steven Gan.

The fundamentalist Islamic opposition party PAS also had several of its senior members detained.

"It is an over-rection. They just want to get together and protest about the prices that people are facing, that's all," said PAS member Zulkifli Sulong.

"The price of food is an important issue in this coming general election. A lot of people are sufering because of price hikes. So they don't want to give a chance to let people expose their grievances about it."

Malaysia's government has been infuriated by the street rallies, which began breaking out in November, targeting issues including electoral reform and rights for the nation's ethnic Indians.

In December it detained five ethnic Indian activists under draconian internal security legislation that allows for indefinite detention without trial.