Global arms sales up 22% durin

Global arms sales between 2005 and 2009 rose 22 percent compared with the previous five-year period, a leading defence think-tank said Monday.

The surge in arms sales, particularly the acquisition of aggressive weapons, is a concern for stability, said the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Notably, combat aircraft accounted for 27 percent of the volume of international arms sales during 2005-2009, said SIPRI in a report.

Orders and deliveries of these potentially destabilizing weapon systems have led to arms race concerns in the Middle East, North Africa, South America, South Asia and Southeast Asia, it said.

"SIPRI report showed that resource-rich states have purchased a considerable quantity of expensive combat aircraft," said Paul Holtom, director of the SIPRI Arms Transfers Program, adding that neighboring rivals have reacted to these acquisitions with orders of their own.

In South America, arms imports were 150 percent higher during the last five years compared with the beginning of the millennium, following a significant upswing in both military spending and arms orders in recent years, the report said.

It also showed that arms sales to Southeast Asia had increased dramatically between 2005 and 2009. Arms imports in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia increased 84 percent, 146 percent and 722 percent respectively.

The United States remained the world's largest exporter of military equipment, accounting for 30 percent of global arms exports in the period from 2005 to 2009. Combat aircraft accounted for 39 percent of US deliveries of major conventional weapons and 40 percent of Russian deliveries.

SIPRI, established in 1966, is an independent international institute focusing on international security, arms control and disarmament.