ARABS-US RELATIONS - Oct. 19 - M.E. Is Biggest Arms Market.

The Middle East is still the world's biggest customer for the international arms trade, which totalled $53.4 bn in 1999, says the Military Balance report published by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). It says Saudi Arabia's weapons purchases, which dropped from $10.8 bn in 1998 to $6.l bn in 1999, "are likely to increase significantly again" as the country seeks a successor to its fleet of European-made Tornado jets. The second biggest regional market in 1999 was East Asia and Australasia, with Taiwan ranking as the leading importer, having taken delivery of $2.6 bn worth of weapons. The US in 1999 increased its share of the world market from 47.6% in 1998 to 49.1% in 1999. Britain and France were the second and third biggest exporters with 18.7 and 12.4%, respectively, and Russia was in fourth place with 6.6%. This marked an increase for Russia, which, according to the IISS, benefited from the 1998 rouble devaluation and stronger demand from China and India. The IISS says industrialised countries' spending on their own military forces shows a mixed picture. 1999 saw clear confirmation that the US has reversed its recent decline in overall military spending, but among European members of Nato, average defence spending has continued to decline to 2.2% of national output. The IISS director John Chipman tells a press conference he sees little likelihood of EU governments putting enough money into their project to create a 50,000-60,000 strong rapid reaction force by 2003. He says this force "is unlikely to be available because of the slow pace of force restructuring and the absence of a fiscal commitment to strengthening defence capabilities".