KUALA LUMPUR - More than 8,000 police patrolled the Malaysian capital today as leaders flew in under heavy guard for the 114-nation Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit.

Helicopters hovered overhead and 8,500 police, some armed with M16 rifles, were deployed to central Kuala Lumpur ahead of the summit representing the interests of billions of the world's poorest people from Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.

Police closed roads and carparks around the Putra World Trade Centre, where some 60 leaders - including Cuba's Fidel Castro, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and the leaders of both India and Pakistan - and thousands of delegates will gather for the two-day meeting from tomorrow.

Mounted officers were seen near the conference building and military trucks blocked carparks, apparently to stop any bomb-laden vehicles from getting near the venue, mindful of the deadly Bali bomb blast in October.

Search and check

Malaysia has detained some 70 members of the Jemaah Islamiyah regional militant group, which is believed to have ties with the al-Qaeda terror network and is blamed for more than 190 deaths in the Bali attack, and officials were not taking any chances.

"We constantly search and check individuals around the centre and in the capital," Ishak Yahaya, who is in charge of security, told AFP .

Ishak said the leaders would be escorted to a pre-determined "safe house" in Kuala Lumpur but added that there had not been any trouble since delegates began meeting here o­n Thursday.

"While we have not received any threats, we are not leaving anything to chance. We have covered all possible forms of incidents. I think security is well taken care of," he said.

An anti-terror unit has been placed o­n alert in an event of a terrorist attack and closed-circuit television cameras monitor movements of people in and around the building.

Mobile patrols

Reporters queued up to go through a metal-detector and all equipment, including mobile phones, watches and tape recorders was scanned by an X-ray machine.

Inside and outside the summit centre, uniformed and plain-clothes officers stood guard or conducted mobile patrols assisted by police dogs and mounted units.

The non-aligned movement, formed as an alternative to the Western and Soviet blocs during the Cold War, will pass resolutions o­n the world's thorniest issues - Iraq, North Korea, global terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Iraq and North Korea are both NAM members. The Palestinians are also represented.