UN says there are now 1.6 Million Iraqis Displaced Internally by AFP 12:29pm 4th Nov, 2006   November 4, 2006    UN says Iraqi humanitarian crisis worse than before war.    The United Nations refugee agency says the humanitarian crisis they are facing in Iraq is now even greater than at the start of the American-led invasion in 2003.    The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees says there are now at least 1.6 million Iraqis displaced internally.    It says another 1.8 million are displaced externally in neighbouring countries such as Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Iran.    The UN says it has less than two-thirds the funding it had three years ago, and is now dealing with five times as many refugees.    The agency says many of its staff in the region are volunteering to go without their salaries so crucial humanitarian projects can continue.    The office of UN High Commissioner for Refugees says alarming levels of violence are forcing more than 50,000 Iraqis to flee their homes each month.    Bodies    In a separate development, Iraqi police say they have found 83 bodies, some showing signs of torture, in various locations around the capital Baghdad in the past 36 hours.    The fresh killings came as the US said seven more US soldiers had died, and troops had killed 13 insurgents.    The Iraqi army has cancelled all leave and put troops on alert ahead of the verdict expected tomorrow in the trial of the former dictator Saddam Hussein.    One of Saddam"s defence lawyers, Ziyad Najdawi, says if Saddam is found guilty all hell will break loose.    "If this tribunal ends with the death penalty of the president and his comrades, believe me, the doors of hell will be opened in Iraq and its neighbours," he said. "No one in Iraq or outside will live in peace."    Saddam"s chief lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi has asked for a delay in the verdict.    He has accused Iraqi authorities of scheduling the announcement to boost US President George W Bush before next week"s mid-term elections.
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