A Somali Bantu girl waves from a bus in this 2003 file photo. REUTERS/Patrick Olum

London , Mar 20, 2007 – Somalia is the world's most dangerous country to be part of a minority community. That's the finding of a new global survey by British advocacy group Minority Rights Group International (MRG), which says fierce fighting and the specter of state persecution have propelled Somalia to the top its annual threat list.

A year ago, Somalia came third on MRG's "Peoples under threat" ranking, published in "State of the World's Minorities". But events of the past few months have made Somalia an even more dangerous place for minorities than Iraq - top of the list last year.

"A new government in Somalia has raised hopes for democracy, but it is also a uniquely dangerous time," said MRG Director Mark Lattimer. "There is the specter of a return of large-scale clan violence - and groups that supported the old order are now under tremendous threat."

Somalia 's interim government is struggling to exert its authority following the New Year defeat of hardline Islamists who controlled Mogadishu and most of the south of the country for six months. The Islamists had put a lid on years of fighting between feuding warlords that had largely reduced Somalia to s state of anarchy. Now experts fear the warlords are on the way back.

MRG puts Iraq and Sudan equal second in the "People under threat" ranking. Iraq owes the dubious distinction to its downward spiral into Shia-Sunni violence and the targeted killings and persecution of Christians, Yezidis, Mandaeans and other minority groups. Sudan's place reflects conflict in Darfur, where Janjaweed militia are targeting farmers from Zaghawa, Masalit and Fur tribes.

The full MRG list below underlines the vulnerability of minorities across the globe, and particularly in the African countries that make up more than half of the top 20. "In three-quarters of the world's conflicts, the killing is now targeted at particular ethnic or religious groups," Lattimer said. "Because they are usually minorities their suffering is largely ignored."

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Blogged by: Tim Large