*SUSPECT ECONOMY SPARKS IBM PULLOUT.(Main)

Byline: New York Times

Citing deteriorating business and political conditions, the International Business Machines Corp. said Tuesday that it would join the ranks of multinational companies withdrawing from South Africa.

The announcement by John F. Akers, IBM's chairman, came one day after a similar but unrelated move by the General Motors Corp. It had been foreshadowed by comments by Akers last spring that economic conditions in South Africa were worsening.

Akers also had said that IBM was feeling the economic impact of pressure from groups in this country opposed to the South African government's policy of apartheid, or racial discrimination.

Anti-apartheid activists said that the IBM and GM departures would lead other American companies to rush to divest themselves …