The United States today expressed regret for any "inappropriate treatment" of Malaysian leaders after it was revealed that the deputy prime minister had to remove his shoes for a security check on arrival in Los Angeles.

"The US embassy sincerely regrets any inconveniences or inappropriate treatment that senior Malaysian government officials may have experienced during their visits to the US," the Kuala Lumpur embassy said in a statement.

The use of the plural "officials" is understood to include a complaint by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad about the "rough" attitude of a security agent who boarded his aircraft on arrival in New York.

"When I arrived in New York on the way to Washington, an officer who boarded the jet said in a rough manner that nobody should move until we were all checked," Mahathir told reporters Tuesday.

"There was no need to be so rough," the 76-year-old veteran leader said, without giving details of whether the incident occurred during his official visit for talks with President George W Bush in May, or whether he was on commercial flight or a Malaysian government aircraft.

Incident downplayed

Mahathir made the complaint while commenting on the incident involving Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, which was in turn revealed Monday by an outraged parliamentarian who urged Malaysia to dole out the same treatment to visiting US leaders.

Abdullah, however, downplayed the incident, which he said took place at his port of entry to the US in Los Angeles before he flew on to New York to address the United Nations general assembly last month.

"I was going through a metal detector and suddenly the alarm went off and I had to take off my shoes. But in other places there was no noise and I did not have to take off my shoes," he said.

The US embassy said it looked forward to working closely with government protocol offices "to ensure that any future visits by senior Malaysian officials are handled as efficiently and courteously as possible."

Full details of the incident involving Abdullah have not been revealed, and one Western diplomat suggested privately that an explanation for his treatment could be that Malaysian protocol officers were not on hand at the airport when he arrived on a commercial flight.

The diplomat said that under normal circumstances it was likely that visiting government leaders would receive special treatment which would eliminate the need to pass through metal detectors.

'Terrorist-risk' countries

The two incidents came to light shortly after it was announced that Malaysia had been placed on a list of 15 states regarded as "terrorist-risk" countries.

That move led Mahathir to denounce what he called "anti-Muslim hysteria".

Malaysia, regarded as a moderate Muslim country, has detained dozens of alleged Islamic militants over the past year and has won praise from the US for its support in the war on terrorism.

The militants detained in Malaysia are said to be linked to Jemaah Islamiyah, which seeks to establish a regional Islamic state and allegedly has ties with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror network. AFP