Police will act against protesters in tomorrow's anti-war demonstration in front of the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur as it is deemed an "illegal gathering".

Kuala Lumpur CID Chief Kamaruddin Mat Desa said police had not issued a permit for any group or political party to hold the anti-war gathering scheduled at 11am.

"We will deploy our men at the embassy and we will not hesitate to take action if the organisers of the gathering go ahead with their plan," Kamaruddin was quoted as saying by national news agency Bernama .

The gathering is organised by non-governmental organisations and opposition political parties as part of a global protest launched by the international Stop the War Coalition.

Penang is the o­nly other Malaysian city besides Kuala Lumpur to join the global protest involving more than 300 cities worldwide.

Melbourne has already kicked off its protest with more than 200,000 people demonstrating o­n the streets.

It is the first in a series of planned peace protests across Australia this weekend, which will culminate in rallies o­n Sunday in Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide.

Meanwhile, a gathering of student movements from several local institutions of higher learning at the US embassy today was aborted after the organisers were advised by Kuala Lumpur Police Chief Dell Akbar Khan to do so.