Three years later, Iraq is on the verge of civil war . . . in the eyes of many Iraqis, civil conflict has already begun. In the days immediately after the attack on the Golden Mosque in Samarra in February, the bodies of over 1,000 Iraqis, many of them tortured, arrived at the morgue in Baghdad.

Such is the lack of personal security that hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have fled to Jordan, Syria and Egypt.

Death squads are operated by both Sunni and Shia, the latter often in the guise of Ministry of Interior troops or the police.

All roads out of Baghdad are beset by insurgents and bandits. Kidnapping has become a routine crime.

Many Iraqis supported the overthrow of Saddam Hussein because they wanted a return to a normal life. Sitting on some of the largest oil reserves in the world, they did not see why they should not enjoy the standard of living of Kuwaitis and Saudis. Instead they had been living in a state of war and economic siege ever since Saddam invaded Iran in 1980. As leader, he led them to ruin and defeat. But to their horror, Iraqis have found since 2003 that their lives have got worse.

Asked what they think of the government, Iraqis often reply: "There is no government." This is true in two senses. Three months after the Shia alliance won the election on 15 December, no new government has been formed.

The divisions between Shia, Sunni and the Kurds have proved too great. The US, with 130,000 troops in the country, is insisting on a national unity government, but US power is ebbing and the Shia . . . 60% of Iraqis . . . suspect that the US simply wants to stop them taking power.

Past rhetoric about postSaddam Iraq becoming a beacon of democracy to the rest of the Middle East sounds absurd in retrospect. Yet the one thing that nobody expected when the US and Britain went to war was that it would still be going on three years later.

1. Freedom and security Iraq is the most dangerous country in the world. So many dead bodies are turning up in Baghdad that the health ministry has been told by the government not to reveal how many dead bodies are registered every week. Criminals operate unhindered. Kidnapping is a major crime and children a frequent target. All Iraqis are now armed. The well-off have fled the country.

One wealthy banker who stayed was still kidnapped when his seven bodyguards were murdered.

Sectarian killings are now frequent. The Sunni fear death squads operating as police commandos or police under Shi'ite control. Many people arrested are routinely tortured and murdered. Sunni fundamentalist fighters have for three years killed Shi'ites simply because of their religious identity. It is only since the bomb attack on Samarra that the Shia have been retaliating with the same level of violence.

2. No stable government has been formed since 2003 The authority of the government outside the Green Zone is also very limited. Divisions between Shia, Sunni and Kurds are too deep to form a united and effective government. The Coalition Provisional Authority led by Paul Bremer sought to rule Iraq from May 2003 to June 2004.

Starting off over-confidently, it played a role in provoking a Sunni and later a Shia uprising in April 2004. The interim government of Iyad Allawi from June 2004 to April 2005 had little better success. It was also notoriously corrupt. The Shia-Kurdish government of Ibrahim al-Jaafari which followed saw deepening sectarianism and no economic improvement.

3. Reform of army and police Has been going on since 2003 and has proved a startling failure. The army was first dissolved in May 2003 and later reconstituted. Its current make up is highly sectarian.

There are 60 Shia battalions, 45 Sunni and nine Kurdish.

Officials in the Defence Ministry are also divided between the three big communities. It is doubtful if the army would stay together in the event of civil war. The army is poorly equipped because the US did not want to give it heavy weapons, and the procurement budget in 2003-2004 was mostly stolen. The Ministry of the Interior has 110,000 men, mostly police, who are increasingly controlled by the militias. In Mosul in 2004, the entire 3,000 strong police force went home when insurgents took the city.

4. Reconstruction and oil Oil production was around 2.1 million barrels a day at the end of last year compared to 2.5m barrels a day before 2003.

Electricity output has only just begun to exceed the Saddam Hussein era figure of 4,600MW, well below CPA objective of 6,000MW in 2003.

Overall, Iraqis get only half a day's supply of electricity per day. In Baghdad, it is often much less. Drinking water and sewage disposal are both below pre-invasion levels.

5. Daily life There are a few improvements. Teachers now get $200 a month compared to $2 a month three years ago. Many have gone back into the profession. There is also a big increase in the number of cars on the streets post 2003.

For the first time there are mobile phones and satellite television. But the cost of living has soared and there is still high unemployment, perhaps 50%. People survive on a statesubsidised ration . . . as they did under Saddam Hussein.

Lack of electricity cripples factories, many of which have closed. Asked about the biggest change in their life since 2003 Iraqis almost always point to the danger of violent death.

FBI confirms death of kidnapped Christian Aid worker in Iraq

THE FBI confirmed yesterday that the body found in Iraq in Friday was that of Tom Fox, 54, a US hostage who was the only American among four Christian Peacemaker activists kidnapped last year in Iraq.

Al-Jazeera broadcast footage on Tuesday of the three other activists purportedly appealing to their governments to secure their release.

The hostages seen in the brief video dated 28 February were Canadians James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden, and Briton Norman Kember.

The previously unknown Swords of Righteousness Brigades claimed responsibility for the kidnappings, which took place sometime around 26 November.

The four workers had not been heard from since a videotape broadcast by Al-Jazeera on 28 January, dated from a week before.

A statement reportedly accompanying that tape said the hostages would be killed unless all Iraqi prisoners were released from US and Iraqi prisons.

No deadline was set.