¡¡¡¡BAGHDAD, Sept. 3 (Xinhuanet) -- The Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union (AIPU) kicked off its special session here Tuesday to find ways to counter the US threat to launch military actions on Iraq, the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported.

¡¡¡¡Addressing the opening session of the AIPU meeting, Izzat Ibrahim, Iraq's number two and vice-chairman of the all-powerful Revolutionary Command Council, urged the Arab world to stand firm against US threats.

¡¡¡¡"We urge the Arab world to demonstrate its steadfastness againstany aggression aimed at Iraq or any other Arab country," Ibrahim was quoted as saying.

¡¡¡¡Iraqi National Assembly Speaker Saadoun Hamadi said the extraordinary session will adopt "legal and political resolutions to mobilize public opinion in the Arab world and abroad."

¡¡¡¡AIPU Chairman Ahmad Taher criticized the United States for seeking to overthrow the Iraqi government by military means, sayingthe right way should be to leave the Iraqi people to decide their own leadership.

¡¡¡¡The gathering of Arab parliamentarians of most of AIPU's member parliaments, except those from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, came as theUnited States is mulling over whether to achieve a "regime change" in Iraq by launching a full-scale war.

¡¡¡¡US President George W. Bush, who accused Iraq of pursuing weapons of mass destruction and supporting terrorism, has repeatedly vowed to achieve a "regime change" in Iraq with all the tools at his disposal.

¡¡¡¡However, the United States has so far failed to win support frommany of its European allies and Arab countries, which have voiced opposition to any war on Iraq without a UN mandate. Enditem

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