The International Movement for a Just World (Just) has condemned the continued occupation of Iraq by the United States and its allied forces, two years after the war began on March 19, 2003.

In a statement, Just assistant secretary-general Tengku Iskandar also questioned the atmosphere in Iraq after its recent general election, which "a number of world powers deem a huge success".

"However, the daily life of the people is worse than before the elections, which was already very bad. Ordinary Iraqis are suffering great danger to life and limb daily, with bombings, kidnapping and spontaneous battles on the streets," he added.

The elections, held in February this year, saw a win for Muslim Shiites while the Kurdish party won a quarter of the votes followed by an alliance led by interim and US-appointed Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.

Secret strategy

The bloody war had resulted in the capture of Iraq's brutal dictator Saddam Hussein and the crushing of his army. However, militia groups are now engaging US forces in a bid to oust them out of the country.

"The widely-hated Saddam Hussein was removed in the process (of the war) and rightly so. But Iraqis, knowing that the strings attached would be unacceptable, did not want the US to do the job in the first place," said Iskandar.

Following the war and the occupation, millions of Iraqis have migrated to neighbouring middle-eastern countries.

"Iraqis widely hold a belief that there is a secret strategy by outsiders to divide and rule their country as a means to control oil and the Middle East," Iskandar said.

Many pre-war critics had accused the US of invading Iraq for pure economic reasons as the superpower's excuse for the war was not substantiated by evidence that large chunks of weapons of mass destruction were stored in the nation.

No sign of leaving

Just is extremely concerned with the lack of signs signalling US departure from Iraq.

"Even considering how bad the current situation is, the worst thing of all is the realisation that the US would not leave Iraq. This destroys hope for the future in the minds of the Iraqis," Iskandar pointed out.

He submitted that based on this, any government formed in Iraq would be a US puppet administration.

"At the same time, the US continues to deceive decent Americans by pronouncements that Iraq will be democratic and free after the invasion," he said.

Apart from Iraq, the US currently occupies Afghanistan.