A minister has called for the Hollywood comedy 'Bruce Almighty' to be banned on the grounds that it offends Muslim religious convictions, a report said today.

The movie, in which star Jim Carrey is given divine powers and challenged by God to do a better job of running the world, is "not appropriate", a minister responsible for religious affairs, Abdul Hamid Zainal Abidin, told the official Bernama news agency.

"We cannot equate ourself with God almighty even as a joke," he said.

Malaysia, which has a mainly Muslim population, regularly censors movies and television shows deemed offensive on religious or sexual grounds. - AFP