BAT faces dilemma over Burma plant

BRITISH American Tobacco is reassessing whether it should operate a factory in Myanmar, formerly Burma, after the Government called on the cigarette maker to pull out of the country.

BAT, whose deputy chairman is former Conservative Chancellor Kenneth Clarke, said it would put the request to its board after Foreign Office minister Mike O'Brien asked chairman Martin Broughton to withdraw.

A BAT spokesman said: 'It is perfectly legal to do business in Burma but as this is a formal request we have undertaken to discuss the issue at board level.'

The Government wants to put fresh pressure on the Rangoon military regime after a brutal crackdown on opposition leaders last month. Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the opposition National League for Democracy, has been arrested and many of her followers have allegedly been killed.

BAT's role in Myanmar goes back to its takeover of Rothmans. It owns 60% of a cigarette plant there, employing 500 people. The other 40% is held by a company controlled by the regime.

The latest announcement is a concession from BAT, which two weeks ago told the Evening Standard that while the current situation in Myanmar was difficult, it was totally committed to the business.

'If we judged the moral acceptability of governments as criteria for doing business, we would find moral objections to a great many countries,î it said then.