JAKARTA: Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has called on the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to issue regulations against religious defamation in the wake of global protests ignited by a film insulting Prophet Muhammad, he said on Tuesday. It comes as Indonesian protesters gathered again at the US Embassy in Jakarta on Monday and were met with tear gas and water cannons by police in an effort to disperse them, eyewitnesses told Bikyamasr.com In a speech before a national meeting of the Nahdlatul Ulama in Cirebon, West Java, the president 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” that has led to massive protests across the Islamic world. He was also 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 Consulate in Libya's Benghazi that resulted in the death of US Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other American staffers.
