IBM says Burma office is "dormant"

[moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Monday May 5 7:16 PM EDT 

IBM  says Burma office is "dormant"

NEW YORK, May 5 (Reuter) - International Business Machines Corp on Monday
said it has not
done any business through its Burma office for years, but could not
immediately say if a ban planned
by the New York City council would include it. 

"I haven't seen the resolution, but if it's aimed against companies
currently doing sales and marketing
in Burma, we would not be affected," said a company spokesman, Fred McNeese.
"We've had a
dormant office there for a number of years, but we don't do any business
there," he said, adding the
computer-maker also had no manufacturing plants in that country. 

The New York City Council said it plans to approve a bill on May 14 that
would restrict the city's
financial dealings with banks and companies doing business in Burma. IBM was
one of a number of
companies that a spokesman for the council, Charles Walker, said could be
affected by the ban. 

The city council has proposed the measure because of alleged human rights
violations by the nation's
State Law and Order Restoration Council, which seized power in 1998 after
crushing a
pro-democracy uprising.