U.S. risks fuelling militant Islam in Sahara-study

DAKAR, March 31 (Reuters) - The United States will only fuel a rise in Islamic militancy in countries bordering the Sahara desert if it takes a heavy-handed approach to fighting terrorism in the region, an influential think tank said on Thursday.

Proselytising Pakistani clerics, an Algerian fundamentalist group allied to al Qaeda and growing resentment of U.S. foreign policy were causes for concern but did not make West Africa a hotbed of terrorism, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said.

"There are enough indicators to justify caution and greater western involvement out of security interests, but it has to be done more carefully than it has been so far," ICG's West Africa project director Mike McGovern said in a report.

Mindful of the al Qaeda training camps that emerged in Afghanistan, some U.S. officials say countries like Mali, Niger, Chad and Mauritania, which are among the world's poorest, make similarly fertile hunting ground for militants seeking recruits.

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