By Suleiman al-Khalidi

AMMAN, Feb 19 (Reuters) - More stability is needed in Iraq before the world community can encourage millions of exiled Iraqis who fled sectarian violence to return to their country, the head of the U.N. refugee agency said on Tuesday.

Antonio Guterres, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said at the end of a two-day mission to Iraq that he pledged to work on a "rapid response mechanism" that lays the groundwork for the eventual return of the refugees.

"We want to support the Iraqi government to find solutions to these problems to allow for their return when it takes place when security allows in safety and dignity to be successful and sustainable," Guterres told Reuters in an interview.

But the overriding concern was tackling the "underlying issues" that would encourage refugees coming home such as property compensation or access to basic services and shelter when people go back to other areas, he added. Some 2.2 million Iraqis fled sectarian fighting which killed tens of thousands after the bombing of a revered Shi'ite shrine in February 2006 and pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war.

The Iraqi Red Crescent estimates that between 1.5 million and 2 million Iraqis fled to Syria, with most of the others going to Jordan. Roughly the same number are displaced within Iraq.

UNHCR's top official said he agreed with Iraqi officials on undertaking a preliminary assessment of the "situation in different areas" as part of new joint U.N. programmes with Iraq.

"It is easier to return if your house is still available than to return to a place you have never been," Guterres added.

Sectarian strife has seen the emergence of almost separate enclaves for Sunnis and Shi'ites as people from each sect fled previously mixed neighbourhoods.

Although security had improved, it was too early to talk about advising refugees to return with no end in sight to the turmoil in Iraq, the U.N. official said.

"We are helping Iraqis who want to go home by their own initiative. We are not promoting or organising a movement of return of refugees because in our opinion the conditions are not yet met for that. The truth is that the security situation in Iraq still causes many concerns," Guterres said.

The UNHCR head also confirmed that the flow of refugees back to Iraq from Syria -- home to the greatest number of Iraqi refugees -- had slowed after a sharp upsurge late last year and that more are currently leaving than coming home.

"According to Syrian authorities that control borders there has been in the last four months of 2007 some 60,000 movements of return but that process has stalled in January," he said.

Many Iraqis who left Syria were forced to leave because of tougher living conditions and anxieties about residence permits despite pledges by both Syria and Jordan they would not forcibly expel any refugees, Guterres added.

But the fact that only a few left proved how important it was to support existing efforts to assist the remaining exiles facing worsening living conditions in their host countries from steep inflation.

It also showed there was still much that was needed to reverse the exodus of the last few years, foremost achieving political reconciliation among Iraqis, Guterres said.

"We need to recognise that there is a lot of homework that needs to be done in Iraq to allow for a meaningful return process," he said. (editing by Richard Williams)

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