Doctors: Suharto condition worsens

 

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Indonesia's former dictator Suharto's condition appeared to be worsening, with renewed bleeding in his stomach, doctors said Tuesday.

 

Suharto, 84, was hospitalized two weeks ago for colon surgery and has undergone several minor operations since then.

Mardjo Subiandono, the chief presidential doctor, told reporters the ex-strongman started bleeding in the stomach again late Monday.

 

"We are giving him medication to try to stop the bleeding," he told a news conference, adding that Suharto's health appeared to be deteriorating. "We will conduct an endoscopy to locate the source of the bleeding."

Suharto, who ruled Indonesia with an iron fist until he was ousted from power in 1998, was indicted in 2000 on charges of embezzling $600 million in state funds.

 

The country's attorney general this month said proceedings against him had been abandoned, angering critics who blame him for hundreds of thousands of deaths. There have been several small but rowdy street protests in recent days.

Subiandono said Suharto looked "weak and pale," and that his hemoglobin had declined overnight.

 

"His lungs, heart and kidneys are functioning," he said, but the main concern was the internal bleeding.

Another doctor, Djoko Rahardjo, described Suharto's condition as serious.