Indonesian president says nobody should be afraid of freedom

PALEMBANG (A.A) - January 30, 2012 - Indonesia's president said on Monday that nobody should be afraid of freedom. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Islam countries should take into consideration social, economic and political movements and counter challenges altogether. "We should always listen to the voice of people. We cannot go on living by ignoring their demands, we should not be afraid of freedoms," Yudhoyono said during the opening session of the Seventh Conference of Parliamentary Union of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation in Palembang, Indonesia. Also speaking in the opening session, the secretary general of the Parliamentary Union, Mahmut Erol Kilic, said Israel went on with its efforts to make Jerusalem a Jewish city, and defined Palestine as one of the most important issues of the parliamentary union. Kilic expressed hope that embargoes on Gaza would end and peace would be restored in the Middle East, adding that use of nuclear energy for peaceful means was the right of every country. The Parliamentary Union of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation consists of 53 Islam countries. The secretary general and deputy secretaries general of the union are elected every four years. Kilic's mandate has ended, however he is expected to be re-elected in this conference. If Kilic is re-elected, Turkey will have undertaken the secretariat general of the parliamentary union for two times consecutively for the first time.