Jakarta: Doctors caring for former Indonesian dictator Suharto struggled today to reduce a dangerous fluid buildup in his lungs and raise his red blood cell count, a week after he was hospitalised in critical condition.

The 86-year-old remained hooked to a kidney dialysis machine today, and his condition was not yet stable enough to implant a second pacemaker for his faltering heart, said Marjo Subiandono, the chief presidential doctor.

Patients have been cleared from part of the Pertamina Hospital in Jakarta to make way for Suharto, whose 32-year regime was widely regarded as one of most corrupt and brutal of the 20th century.

Several nearby rooms were packed with family members and close friends, some praying and chanting verses from the Quran. Suharto was chased from office at the height of the 1997-98 financial crisis, opening the way for democracy in this predominantly Muslim nation of 235 million people.

He withdrew from public life, venturing from his comfortable villa on a leafy lane in the capital only to attend family functions or for medical emergencies.
A series of strokes in recent years have left him with permanent brain damage and impaired speech - keeping him from facing trial. He is accused of overseeing the deaths and imprisonment of up to a million political opponents during his reign and amassing a fortune in stolen state funds, a charge Suharto has repeatedly denied.

Suharto was rushed to the hospital on January 4 with anemia and a dangerously low heart rate. He initially responded well to a blood transfusion and dialysis, but his condition has since fluctuated.

Source : PTI