From Deutche Welle:  Germany doubled the amount of its arms it sold abroad in 2004-2009, compared to that exported during the previous five-year period, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released Monday.

Germany is the world’s third leading exporter of conventional weaponry.

Most of the German exports were armored vehicles. More than 1,700 of them were sent to 21 countries; the majority were second-hand. The most common destination was elsewhere in Europe, but some were sent to places like Singapore, China and Brazil. Germany’s market share increased from 6 percent to 11 percent.

But the largest buyer of German exports was Turkey, which accounted for 14 percent of the arms shipped abroad. The second- and third-largest buyers were Greece and South Africa, respectively, followed by South Korea, Spain, Austria, Italy, Malaysia, Australia and Chile.  (photo: Reuters)

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