"Iraq is ready to continue to defend itself and face up any US aggression against it," Aziz said during a meeting with three visiting US Democratic lawmakers.

His remarks came as the United States is accusing Iraq of pursuing weapons of mass destruction programs, and threatening to achieve a "regime change" in Iraq by force.

Aziz refuted bluntly the US allegation, insisting that Iraq is free of any weapons of mass destruction.

For their part, the three US Congressmen -- Jim McDermott of Washington, David Bonior of Michigan and Mike Thompson of California -- asserted that the purposes of their visit were to seek ways to solve the crisis peacefully, INA said.

Earlier in the day, Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan said his country will reject any new UN resolution on arms inspections, saying "our position on the inspectors has been decided and any new procedure aimed to harm Iraq is unacceptable."

The United States and Britain are engaged in a joint diplomatic offensive to win support of France, Russia and China, the other three permanent members of the UN Security Council, for a new draftresolution against Iraq.

The proposed UN resolution will reportedly set a seven-day deadline for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to accept all UN demands and open all suspected sites, including Saddam's palaces, to international weapons inspectors.

(Xinhua News Agency September 29, 2002)