Dictator Dies, How Care....????

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Former dictator Suharto developed
pneumonia in one lung, doctors reported Monday,
calling it a dangerous new threat for a patient with
multiple organ failure. They said they were amazed the
86-year-old was still hanging on.

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Suharto was rushed to a hospital suffering from anemia
and a dangerously low heart rate Jan. 4.

After initially responding well to a blood transfusion
and dialysis, his health sharply deteriorated. Aides
said privately he appeared several times to be on the
verge of death.

The retired five-star general's lungs and kidneys were
barely functioning Monday, but his heart showed signs
of improvement, said Marjo Subiandono, the chief
presidential doctor.

"We are quite amazed at how strong he is ... maybe
because he is a former soldier, a general," Subiandono
told reporters. "If I was in the same state, I don't
think I would have made it this far."

Physicians temporarily stopped Suharto's sedation
medicine to see if he was conscious. He was responsive
and took hold of a hand when asked if he was able,
they said.

One of Suharto's lungs was infected with mild
pneumonia, and physicians were trying to make sure it
did not spread to his other lung, said Hadiarto
Mangunnegoro, a pulmonologist.

Suharto, whose 32-year regime was widely regarded as
one of the 20th century's most brutal and corrupt, was
ousted a decade ago amid student protests and
nationwide riots, opening the way for democracy in
this predominantly Muslim nation of 235 million
people.

He withdrew from public life, venturing from his
mansion on a leafy lane in Jakarta only to attend
family functions or for medical emergencies.

A series of strokes in recent years left Suharto with
permanent brain damage and impaired speech — and kept
him from facing trial.

He has been accused of overseeing the killings of more
than a half million leftist opponents soon after
seizing power in a 1965 coup. Hundreds of thousands
more were killed or imprisoned in the decades that
followed — crimes for which no one has ever been
punished.

Transparency International has said Suharto and his
family amassed billions of dollars in state funds, an
allegation he has denied.

On Monday, Malaysia's former prime minister, Mahathir
Mohamad, visited Suharto, a longtime friend. Former
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kwan Yew dropped a day
earlier.

"(I am) very sad, because when I last met him he could
still think clearly," Mahathir told MetroTV after
praying at Suharto's bedside and whispering in his
ear. "It never crossed my mind that in one year's time
his condition would deteriorate so much."