In an interview with CNN, Dr. Said Ismail Hakki addressed the issue of displacement, a dire symbol of the cost of the four-year-old war. He cites large numbers of refugees, people who flee to other countries, and internally displaced people, those who flee to other parts of their country over this last year.

He said the displacement problems escalated last February and March. On Feb. 22, 2006, the bombing of the Askariya Mosque in Samarra, a Shiite shrine, sparked the widespread sectarian violence that has pervaded Baghdad and many mixed areas in the country.

"The trend so far is not downwards, still," he said, citing an increase both in refugees and in internally displaced. "The government made a courageous move to entice them with money but so far a trickle came back," Hakki said. He said the numbers of ( Iraqi Displaced people ) IDP have been dramatically rising.

"From March 2006, the increase was approximately 5 to 6,000 a month. From July, it jumped to 80,000 to 120,000."

He said there are about 600,000 IDPs in Iraq and more than 2 million in other countries, with many in the neighboring countries of Syria, Iran, and Jordan and in regional nations such as Egypt and Lebanon.

Sources: CNN