DHAKA: The president of the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, Indonesia, on Thursday called the actions of Islamic State (IS) militants ‘embarrassing’ to the religion and urged Islamic leaders to unite in tackling extremism.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the scale of the slaughter wrought by the extremists in overrunning large swathes of Iraq and Syria and the level of violence being used was appalling.

‘It is shocking. It is becoming out of control,’ he said in an interview with The Australian, a day after IS released a video showing a masked militant beheading US reporter James Foley, provoking worldwide revulsion.

‘We do not tolerate it, we forbid ISIS in Indonesia,’ he added, referring to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, as IS was formerly known, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1302 HRS, AUG 21, 2014