The Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) on Friday asked Muslims here not to be provoked by the anti-Islam movie "Innocence of Muslims," but at the same time demanded that legal action be taken against the producer.

Amid increasing violent anti-US protests in response to the movie in the Middle East, MUI deputy chairman Amidhan said Muslims should stay cool-headed and advised against conducting rallies to protest it.

"Don't overreact," Amidhan said in Jakarta on Friday, as quoted by the Indonesian news portal tempo.co, adding that Muslims should not be affected by the movie.

But he added that the MUI nevertheless condemned the movie and demanded that legal action be taken against the producer. "Whoever made the movie must be punished. The [Indonesian] government should respond to this quickly because this movie degrades the Prophet Muhammad," he said.

A similar call came from the Islam-based United Development Party (PPP), which demanded the movie be banned but asked Indonesian Muslims not to be provoked by it.

"We hope that the Indonesian Muslim community doesn't get provoked by the circulation of the movie to commit actions that are against the law," PPP deputy chairman Arwani Thomafi said on Friday, as quoted by tribunnews.com.

"We believed that Indonesian Muslims, who are known to be moderate, can restrain themselves from doing actions that will be counterproductive to Islam in Indonesia," he added.

Meanwhile, hard-line Islamist group Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia said it was planning to stage a protest against the airing of the movie, reportedly produced by a California man, in front of the US Embassy in Jakarta on Friday.

"We condemn the making and the spread of the movie that humiliates the prophet. Muslims are obliged to protect and defend his honor using all force," HTI spokesman Muhammad Ismail Yusanto said in a written statement.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono denounced the movie on Thursday, while Indonesia's Communications and Information Ministry has asked YouTube to block access to the movie to prevent it from being viewed in Indonesia.

YouTube said on Wednesday it was restricting access in Libya and Egypt. In Indonesia, trailers for the low-budget film remain accessible on the video-sharing website.

Violent outbursts following the airing of the movie trailer killed the US ambassador to Libya and three other Americans in the US consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi. Violent protests have also been reported in Egypt and Yemen.

The low-budget movie portrays Muslims as immoral and gratuitously violent. It pokes fun at the Prophet Muhammad and touches on themes of pedophilia and homosexuality, while showing him sleeping with women, talking about killing children and referring to a donkey as "the first Muslim animal."