Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has urged the United Nations (UN) and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to issue regulations against religious defamation in the wake of global protests ignited by a film insulting the Prophet Muhammad, a media reported here on Tuesday.

In a speech before a national meeting of the Nahdlatul Ulama in Cirebon, West Java, Yudhoyono said "I call on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the UN to mull over international protocol to prevent things like this from happening again," referring to the anti-Islam film "The Innocence of Muslims."

President Yudhoyono was quoted by the Jakarta globe as saying that religious defamation should be condemned because it hurts the hearts of religious people, disturbs peace and could trigger bloody conflicts.

The controversial film has been blocked in Indonesia by order of the Indonesian government.

The film, which was produced by a self-proclaimed Coptic Christian American, set off a wave of anti-US protests across the Middle East and Indonesia and reportedly inspired an attack on the US Embassy in Libya that resulted in the death of the US Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.