JAKARTA, July 14, 2008, (WAFA)- - Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called on Monday for stepping up support by African and Asian nations for an independent Palestinian state.

 Opening a two-day conference with Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in Jakarta, Yudhoyono called on Asian-African countries to help empower Palestinians so they would be ready for independence.

'We have to take concrete steps to help empower Palestinians in various fields so they are ready to govern a free and sovereign country,' Yudhoyono was quoted as saying.

He called on the international community to work towards an independent and viable Palestinian state in the near future and to ensure the implementation of the 2003 framework for Mideast peace.

The conference on capacity building for a Palestinian state, jointly organized under the New Asian-African Strategic Partnership framework, was attended by representatives from 53 countries.