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Former president Suharto, who ruled Indonesia for more than three decades, has suffered multiple organ failure and is on a ventilator, doctors said.
Suharto, who stepped down in 1998 in the face of a student-led uprising, was losing consciousness and having difficulty breathing at 5pm (1000 GMT) on Friday, according to a statement at 8.30pm by Pertamina hospital in Jakarta.
The doctors said Suharto's brain and other organs failed as his blood pressure fell.
"He is still in an unstable condition," said Muhammad Munawar, a member of the medical team treating the former general, adding that they did not know how long he could be kept alive.
Indonesia's Vice President Jusuf Kalla arrived at the hospital in the evening in order to be a witness at the former general's death, said a source in Kalla's office who did not want to be named.
However, Kalla left the hospital within an hour without saying anything to reporters. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is in Malaysia.
Family members had earlier gathered at Suharto's bedside, witnesses said.
Former military leaders under Suharto including Prabowo Subianto, his former son-in-law, and Wiranto, a former military chief, also arrived at the hospital to see him as he lay behind a glass window, a family friend said.
Suharto was taken to Pertamina hospital a week ago suffering from anaemia and low blood pressure due to heart, lung and kidney problems. His health worsened on Friday and doctors said he appeared to have a lung infection.
"We are closely monitoring for a possible infection because there are preliminary signs of inflammation" in Suharto's lungs, Hadiarto Mangunnegoro, a lung specialist, told a news conference.
"We have given him treatment to prevent that, including giving him antibiotics and anti-inflammation medicine. Hopefully it will not happen. If it does, it will make things worse."
Suharto was charged with embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars of state funds after he quit office, but the government later dropped the case due to his poor health.
He and his family deny any wrongdoing.
Hutomo Mandala Putra, Suharto's youngest son who also faces graft charges and served time in prison for ordering the murder of a judge, was at the hospital on Friday.
"On behalf of our family, we would like to thank fellow countrymen who have prayed for his recovery. For those who did so, hopefully you will receive something good in return," he said. "The most important thing is that he gets better."
Suharto came to power after an abortive coup on September 30, 1965, that was officially blamed on the communist party.
Up to 500,000 people were killed in an anti-communist purge in the months that followed.
Many human rights violations under Suharto's rule, in Aceh, Papua, East Timor and elsewhere, were linked to the armed forces.
On Friday, a group of 20 people belonging to a solidarity group for victims of human right violations in the Suharto era gathered at Pertamina hospital bearing banners with the words "Put Soeharto on trial" and a huge bouquet wishing him well.
Most said they wished for Suharto's recovery, but humanity and justice were two different things.
- REUTERS
