Over 1,500 political activists demonstrated at mosques and the embassies of the United States, Britain and France today in protest over Israeli aggression in Lebanon and Gaza.

Led by the youth wing of the ruling Umno, protestors marched from a city mosque after Friday prayers and on to the embassies located in the centre of Kuala Lumpur.

The protesters, mainly Muslim men, gathered by the mosque outside the iconic Petronas Twin Towers, chanting "Allahu Akbar" meaning God is greater, and "Down with Israel", before setting the Israeli flag on fire.

They also carried banners with slogans such as "Restore Peace", "Say No To War" and "Stop Killing Innocent Children".

Some of them stomped on images of US President George W Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Israeli premier Ehud Olmert, while guarded by dozens of police equipped with a water cannon truck.

"We are trying to galvanise people-power. The government may be powerless but we are going to do something by shaking people-power all over the world," deputy Umno youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin told AFP .

"We hope to put enough pressure so that the United Nations Security Council intervenes as soon as possible to ensure the attacks... stop immediately," Khairy said.

Besides Umno Youth, the youth wings of various parties in the Barisan Nasional coalition took part in the protest.

The demonstrators also delivered a protest memorandum to officials at the US, British and French embassies before dispersing peacefully when rain put a premature end to their march.

Police said some 1,500 protestors took part while organisers put the number above 3,000.

Demonstrations in mosques

Meanwhile, opposition PAS also held demonstrations at mosques in Kuala Lumpur and across the country.

The head of the party's youth wing, Salahuddin Ayub, called on Malaysia to cancel an invitation to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is expected to attend Asia's top security forum in Kuala Lumpur next week.

"I think this is the first step that needs to be taken by the government to show that we strongly protest what's happening in the Mideast to our Palestinian brothers and Lebanon," he said.

Mainly Muslim Malaysia, which is currently chairing the 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference and the 116-nation Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), has condemned Israel's actions as excessive.