The Iraq war "has made global terrorism worse by fanning Islamic radicalism," a newspaper report quoted US intelligence agencies as saying on Sunday.

The war has also provided "a training ground for lethal methods that are increasingly being exported to other countries," the Los Angeles Times said, quoted assessments by US intelligence agencies.

The paper cited the "bleak analysis" by 16 US intelligence units which said the conflict has spread extremism and serves as a laboratory for deadly tactics.

The classified document, which represents a consensus view of all 16 US intelligence agencies, paints a considerably bleaker picture of the impact of the Iraq war than the Bush administration or US intelligence officials have acknowledged publicly, the paper noted.

The report, titled "Trends in Global Terrorism: Implications for the United States," was completed and described to US government officials in April but not made public, according to the paper.

It said the 30-page report documents an array of disturbing trends in the war on terrorism and focuses on forces that are contributing to the evolution of Islamic terrorist networks from centralized structures to an increasingly fragmented ideological movement.

This is contrary to the claim by President George W. Bush, the United States has become safer because of the Iraq War, the paper noted.

The assessment pointed to the flow of Moslems from other countries, including Europe, to Iraq to join the insurgency, said the paper.

Those who survive the fighting often leave and return to their home countries with dangerous new experience in urban fighting, bomb-making and - perhaps most important - credibility with other potential Moslem recruits, the paper quoted the assessment as saying.

(Xinhua News Agency September 25, 2006)