At least 914,000 Iraqis have fled their homes since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, more than a third since an increase in sectarian bloodshed at the start of this year, the U.N. refugee agency said Friday.

The overall number is likely to be much higher, said Ron Redmond, chief spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. The agency has concluded that 754,000 displaced Iraqis remain in the country, while tens of thousands more have sought refuge abroad.

"We remain extremely concerned about the rapidly deteriorating situation in Iraq and the ongoing displacement this is creating both inside and outside Iraq," Redmond told reporters.

Redmond told The Associated Press that at least 40,000 Iraqis have arrived in Syria every month for the last four months.

Most of those who have fled their homes since the start of the war came from central areas of the country around Baghdad, Redmond said.

"There are some in the north and south as well, but the majority are in the center. A lot of them are going to Sunni areas, or Shia areas, where they have family, relatives, other social groups that will help them and take care of them," Redmond said.

About 365,000 people — nearly half of those who have fled to other areas within Iraq — have left since sectarian fighting intensified after the bombing of an important Shiite shrine in the city of Samarra in February, Redmond said.

Redmond said the figures were compiled by UNHCR staffers from information provided by government offices and other aid agencies. According to Iraqi government information, 1.5 million people are currently classed as internally displaced, though that includes 800,000 from before the 2003 invasion.

Unlike casualty figures, which vary widely and have been the subject of much criticism from governments and non-governmental organizations working in Iraq, nobody has disputed the overall number of internally displaced, Redmond said.

The flow of refugees into neighboring countries also increased sharply after the Samarra attack, but the governments have so far failed to provide the agency with overall numbers, Redmond said.

UNHCR estimates that there are 1.6 million Iraqis in other countries in the region, mainly Jordan and Syria, but some of those have been outside Iraq for more than a decade.

© Copyright 2006 Associated Press

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