Posted on 01/11/2008 3:13:11 PM PST by LibWhacker
JAKARTA (AFP) - - Indonesia's ex-dictator Suharto, who ruled the nation with an iron fist for more than three decades, suffered multiple organ failure on Friday and lost consciousness, his doctors said.
Suharto, an authoritarian ruler for 32 years until he was forced from power in 1998, entered hospital a week ago suffering anaemia and low blood pressure, as well as heart, kidney and lung problems.
He improved after dialysis and transfusions but his condition has since fluctuated, dramatically worsening late Friday as his extended family rushed to his bedside and the media crowded hospital corridors.
"At 5:00pm (1000 GMT), he entered a critical condition, he lost consciousness due to multiple organ failure," one of his doctors, Marjo Soebiandono, told a press briefing.
"We put him on a ventilator (for respiratory assistance) and gave him medication to overcome this critical condition. Until now we're still doing a maximum effort... We ask Indonesian people to pray for him," he said.
He said Suharto, 86, had suffered "multiple organ failure of the heart, kidney, lung, and brain."
Vice President Yusuf Kalla arrived at the hospital along with relatives from Suharto's extended family. Kalla comforted one of Suharto's weeping daughters outside his hospital room, according to one of the vice president's staff members.
She had told him that the family had been ready to "let him go" after he lost consciousness, but he had shown some signs of life several hours later. Kalla later left without making comments to the press.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is currently in Malaysia on an official visit. A reporter from Elshinta radio station travelling with him said journalists had been told to wait at the hotel because "there is a possibility that the president will return to Jakarta later tonight (Friday)."
The Detikcom online news portal reported that Suharto's half-brother Probosutedjo was permitted to leave his jail cell, where he is serving a term for corruption, to visit Suharto.
At Suharto's home village of Kemusuk in Central Java, a nephew told ElShinta radio that family members and residents had been closely watching television since the afternoon.
"We cannot do anything but pray," he said.
Earlier Friday doctors had said that Suharto's kidneys were weakening despite ongoing dialysis and repeated transfusions, and there were signs of possible pneumonia emerging in his liquid-clogged lungs.
Doctors had been hoping to operate to install a second pacemaker, but his overall condition has been too unstable to do so.
Suharto was in power during an era of massive growth that reshaped what was an economically backwards archipelago. But he was eventually undone by corruption and rights abuses of his rule, in the aftermath of the 1997 Asian economic crisis.
A criminal corruption case against the former president was dropped in 2006 on health grounds, but a 1.4 billion dollar civil case into alleged graft involving a national charity that he chaired is ongoing.
Suharto's decline has triggered calls from his allies for the suit to be dropped, which the attorney general refused.
Last year, in a move critics saw as evidence of Suharto's lingering power, Indonesia's top court awarded him more than 100 million dollars in damages in a libel case he brought against Time magazine.
The magazine had claimed he had embezzled some 15 billion dollars while in power. Watchdog Transparency International put the figure in 2004 as high as 35 billion dollars.
Suharto has lived as a virtual recluse in a leafy street in the upscale Jakarta suburb of Menteng in the 10 years since his overthrow amid bloody rioting and protests. He has always denied the corruption charges.
The Detikcom news website said that about 40 police had been deployed to stand guard in front of his house and reporters were asked to move their cars away from the street.
He said Suharto, 86, had suffered “multiple organ failure of the heart, kidney, lung, and brain.”
Man, them Indonesian sawbones must be really sumpthin’ if this Sufarto guy is still kickin’
He did his duty. When Sukarno was leaning toward the Chicoms in 65-66, Suharto got ahold of the reins and wrought havoc on the commies. I recall that upwards of 250,000 commies died in the ensuing purge shakeout.
I wonder how Sharon is doing.
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