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                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 26, 1993                   TAG: 9303260270
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-13   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHICAGO                                LENGTH: Short

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COMPANY SETTLES ARAB BOYCOTT CASE

Baxter International Inc. agreed Thursday to plead guilty and pay $6.5 million in fines to settle charges that illegally tried to get off a list of companies boycotted by Arab countries.

The Deerfield, Ill.-based hospital supply giant acknowledged that it provided information to Arab League boycott authorities about its business dealings with Israel, in violation of a 1977 federal statute that prohibits cooperating with the Arab boycott of U.S. businesses that have ties to Israel.

Under the plea agreement, the company and its subsidiaries are barred from doing new business with Syria or Saudi Arabia for two years, acting U.S. Attorney Joan Safford said.

The case was he first criminal prosecution and the largest civil penalty ever attained under the statute, Safford said.

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