London: A British warship was under tremendous tension when it was accused of targeting US President Barack Obama`s wife Michelle, a media report said on Saturday.

The US Secret Service reacted furiously when they noticed the missiles on HMS Edinburgh were aiming directly at her hotel suite in South Africa.

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The agents complained and one told the British crew: "You can`t point those guns at the First Lady." The Royal Navy warship was docked alongside Michelle Obama`s exclusive Cape Town hotel as she embarked on her first major overseas tour in June without her husband Barack since he became the president, the Daily Express reported.

Red-faced British officers were forced to reassure her security detail that the Type 42 destroyer was only carrying blank rockets, known as "drills" and explain that the weapons were on show for ceremonial reasons following the death of an officer, according to the newspaper.

Ex-Royal Navy officer Mike Critchley, publisher of Warship World magazine, said: "This is typical American Secret Service going over the top. I would have thought that they could trust their British allies to not put a missile through the bedroom window of the First Lady." Michelle Obama was accompanied by her mother Marian Robinson and daughters Malia, 13, and Sasha, 10, for the visit to South Africa and Botswana in June.

Among the highlights of the tour were meetings with former leader Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu.

The diplomatic hitch came when she was staying at the five-star Table Bay hotel in Cape Town`s exclusive waterfront district.

IANS