Shiite exodus from mixed towns

"The government does nothing! What should I say about the government? This is the democracy. This is the freedom," she says, laughing bitterly. "The freedom is that you must leave your house."

"Families are living in their cars," says Abu Ali. "It's like Shiites aren't human beings."

IRCS president Mr. Hakki says his organization is expecting many more refugees to come to Baghdad. "The whole scheme [of attacks] seems to be very well-organized and well-executed," he says.

In Chikook, residents of the newly erected tent camp hold up letters from Sunni Arab insurgent groups such as the Islamic Army of Iraq and Ansar Al-Sunni. They variously accuse men of giving aid to Shiite militias or the Iraqi National Guard and give them an amount of time to leave - a few days or 24 hours - before "passing God's judgment," in the words of one of the letters.

"Everyone just left," says Harmeet Hanoon, also from Haswa. "The violence is increasing. More people are coming each day."

Filling the void left by the government, the Mahdi Army, the militia of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, has provided assistance to displaced families in neighborhoods all over Baghdad.

Most of the neighborhoods like Chikook are proximal to Sadr City, the northern suburb of more than 2 million that comprises Mr. Sadr's power base. Chikook itself is on the south side of Shoala, a slightly smaller, poorer neighborhood similar to Sadr City. The militia is also strong in Shoala, and the residents of Chikook say the local Sadr office has been providing gas, food, and protection for the residents and even pointed them to the vacant land upon which to build houses or pitch tents.

"We ask the Iraqi government to find a solution for those who are suffering instead of arguing about seats," says Abdullah al-Rikaby, a spokesman for the Sadr office in Shoala.

Shiites are not the only ones being cleansed. Sunnis are also leaving areas in which they are the minority, pushed out by Shiite militias. The Iraqi Islamic Party in Baghdad says it has registered 1,500 displaced families since the Samarra attack.

The migration of both Arab Sunni and Shiites seems to be fueling sectarian tension. Naim Hussein lives in Imam al-Ridha, a neighborhood similar to Chikook that borders Sadr City. After fleeing Taji, north of the capital, two months ago after three of his cousins were killed by insurgents, he now states his allegiance to Sadr's militia.

Though Sadr has called for calm, some of the young men are ready to fight.

"We are all Jeish al-Imam," says Mr. Hussein, giving the militia's alternate name. "We are waiting for the green light from our leaders. If there were really a civil war, there would be no Sunnis left."

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