Snipers, sniffer dogs and hundreds of police were in place Thursday as Malaysia prepared to host US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at Asia's top security meeting.

Protesters are planning to mark Rice's visit with a demonstration against Israel's offensive in Lebanon and Gaza, to be held near the conference venue next to Kuala Lumpur's iconic Petronas Towers.

Malaysia's hardline Islamic opposition party is also organising a protest at a nearby mosque after Friday's Muslim prayers.

However, the police commander for the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre meeting venue, Superintendent Abdul Haddi Itam, said his officers were ready for any disturbances.

"We have good intelligence gathering. We expect where the trouble will come from," he told AFP.

Rice, who has travelled from an emergency meeting on the Middle East conflict in Rome, is due to arrive in Kuala Lumpur later Thursday for the Asean Regional Forum hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Friday.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is also due in Kuala Lumpur, along with the European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana and North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam-Sun.

Well under control

Abdul Haddi said that some 600 police - uniformed and plainclothes - were stationed at the venue alone.

"(Security) is extremely well under control. We have a very sufficient and substantial amount of personnel to man this venue and as far as we are concerned, we are ready for any eventuality," he said.

Abdul Haddi said police had held a short briefing session with Rice's security personnel ahead of the talks and that the Malaysian side was rolling out an array of measures to ensure the VIPs' safety.

"For example, we have a bomb disposal squad and air units patrolling," said Abdul Haddi, adding that patrols were also being conducted by police helicopters buzzing around the Petronas Towers.

Snipers had been positioned in "strategic" places, he said, and sniffer dogs were searching for any explosives.

Newspapers said the snipers would be stationed on overhead bridges along the route from the airport to guard Rice's bulletproof car.