EU rebuffs Microsoft's accusations

BRUSSELS, March 10 (UPI) -- The European Union rejected accusations Friday that a key technical expert was colluding with rivals of Microsoft Corp.

The U.S. software giant, which is in an antitrust fight with Brussels, leveled the accusations at the European Commission, the Financial Times said.

Specifically, Microsoft accused Neil Barrett, a British computer scientist who advises the European Commission, of inappropriate relations with competitors, believed to be IBM, Oracle, Novell and Sun Microsystems.

"Trustees do need to talk to third parties," a commission spokesman said, defending Barrett's integrity.