|PIC1|On the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq by US and UK forces, the Methodist Church has spoken out against the war in Iraq and its devastating human cost.

"The war in Iraq has been far more costly in terms of lives lost than anyone could have imagined," said the Methodist Church's Co-ordinating Secretary for Public Life and Social Justice, Anthea Cox, who also paid tribute to British troops and chaplains serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We are acutely aware of the appalling death toll of Iraqi civilians as the country struggles to contain the violence," she added.

Tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed and millions displaced since the start of the war, which has cost the US $500bn and the lives of nearly 4,000 of its soldiers.

According to estimates from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) released on Tuesday, close to one in five of Iraq's population at the time of the invasion, or 2.4 million, are now living as internally displaced people or abroad as refugees.

"There is very little light at the end of the tunnel in Iraq's humanitarian crisis," IOM spokeswoman Jemini Pandya told a news briefing in Geneva. "Conditions for the displaced, the refugees, have been getting steadily worse."

The Methodist Church pointed to the mixed feelings among Britons over the Iraq war, saying that it was right that people continue to challenge its legitimacy five years on.

"Following the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq many more people now question whether the invasion was justified and whether this was the only course open to us," said Ms Cox.

"It is right that such questions should still be asked today."

She added that it was necessary to learn lessons from the invasion of Iraq and subsequent efforts to rebuild the country.

"Iraq has shown us that a military response that seeks to exert control can easily bring further chaos," she said.

"We need to learn lessons regarding the role of diplomacy, the relationship between the intelligence services and government policy-making and the importance of regional alliances in addressing conflict and post-conflict reconstruction."

The Methodist Church also voiced concern over the plight of Iraq's tiny and beleaguered Christian population, particularly in light of the abduction the Chaldean Archbishop of Mosul, Paulos Faraj Rahho. The much loved archbishop was kidnapped by unknown gunmen nearly three weeks ago before his body was found in a shallow grave last Thursday.

"The kidnapping and tragic death of Archbishop Rahho illustrates the extreme danger faced by Christians and other minorities in Iraq today," said Ms Cox.

"We are enormously concerned for the Iraqi Christian community and will continue to uphold them in our prayers."

Talks aimed at healing rifts between Iraq's rival political parties broke down on Tuesday almost as soon as they began, after influential Sunni and Shi'ite blocs decided to boycott the conference.

Iraq's Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki gave the remaining politicians a positive report on the situation in Iraq, saying that the threat of civil war had subsided and that considerable progress had been made.

"Peace has been achieved between Sunni and Shi'ite ... the crisis when people were being killed because of their religious identity is over," he said.

Ms Cox said that the UK had to continue to work with the people of Iraq and offer support.

"We would ask those with influence to consider how regional powers might be brought together to work on solutions and how to provide security for minorities," she said. "We also need to consider how external powers can best help to foster national reconciliation and strengthen political institutions in Iraq."