BRUSSELS, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Netherlands was ranked the fifth among the world's leading weapons exporters last year, according to a report published on Friday by non-government organization the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT).

    The Netherlands sold large quantities of arms to the governments of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, India, Oman and Pakistan last year, Dutch daily De Volkskrant quoted the report as saying.

    In 2007, the country sold 170 million euros (about 226.78 million U.S. dollars) worth of weapons to Denmark, its most important market. The United States and Oman are the second and third biggest importer of Dutch arms, which purchased 120 million and 100 million euros worth of arms respectively.

    According to the CAAT, which is based in Britain, the Netherlands is also an important center in the transportation of arms from America to Iraq and Afghanistan, with the Amsterdam Schiphol airport being used for stopovers.

    In November, CAAT said that 45 percent of the poison gas supplied to former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in the 1980s came from the Netherlands.

    The organization's previous annual report said the Netherlands exported some 1.03 billion euros in arms in 2006, including Indonesia, Venezuela and Chile. It was the world's fifth largest arms exporter that year. (1 U.S. dollar = 0.7496 euros)