The 144-member international organization passed a resolution unanimously calling on the UN to oversee the total withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq.

Representatives from nearly 140 countries' parliaments emphasized the need to put a quick end to the war in Iraq and restore peace there under UN leadership.

They expressed "deep concern" over the United States-led war and their "worry" about Iraqi civilian victims, "particularly women, children and the elderly."

They called on the UN Security Council to lift sanctions against Iraq "as soon as possible," and on the international community to supply humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people.

On reconstruction in postwar Iraq, the resolution said it was up to Iraqi people to choose their own political institutions, a process that "must not be made through the use of Iraq's wealth nor depletion of its natural resources."

The IPU was ready to play a particular role in promoting peace in Iraq, the resolution said.

The IPU focused on the war in Iraq on Wednesday during its conference from April 6 to 12 at the request of Argentina, Egypt, Indonesia and Sudan.

About 1,200 delegates from nearly 140 parliaments were participating in the conference.

The IPU was founded in 1889 and now has 144 member parliaments and five associated regional parliamentary assemblies.

(Xinhua News Agency April 11, 2003)