The United States maintained its dominance in the international arms market last year, accounting for 45.5 percent of global conventional weapons deals, according to a new Congressional report.

The total amount of the US arms sales in 2002 reached 13.3 billion dollars, up from 12.1 billion in 2001. Of that, 8.6 billion dollars were sold to developing nations, or about 48.6 percent of conventional arms deals concluded with developing countries last year, according to the report.

Russia was second in sales to the developing world, with 5 billion dollars, followed by France with 1 billion dollars.

The new report, "Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations, 1995-2002," was sent to the House and Senate this week by the Congressional Research Service, an arm of the Library of Congress. It was reported by the New York Times Thursday.

From 1999 to 2002, there were no deliveries of surface-to-surface missiles to the Middle East from arms makers in the United States, Russia, Europe or China, the report said.

But the study says 60 surface-to-surface missiles were delivered to the Middle East by nations in the category "All Others," which includes such suppliers as Israel, South Africa and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Total global arms transfer agreements reached nearly 29.2 billion dollars in 2002, a decrease from 2001 and the second year in a row that total arms sales dropped, according to the study.

(Xinhua News Agency September 26, 2003)