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JAKARTA: Former Indonesian president Suharto's condition deteriorated after the 86-year-old was hospitalised in Jakarta, doctors said on Saturday.
Suharto was suffering complications after his heart became too weak to pump blood properly around his body causing large amounts of swelling, hospital director Djoko Rahardjo said.
Doctors have managed to reduce the swelling in Suharto's "limbs but not his stomach", Rahardjo told reporters.
"We are still trying to manage his condition," said Rahardjo, also a doctor, adding that Suharto was conscious but drowsy.
Suharto, who has been in and out of hospital for various health problems including a stroke and stomach ailments in recent years, was taken to Pertamina hospital in the capital on Friday.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his wife visited the former leader on Saturday. He refused to comment on Suharto's condition after his 15-minute visit.
A number of former officials from Suharto's era also turned up to visit including former state secretary and close confidante Moerdiono who stayed by his side for almost five hours on Friday.
Moerdiono said all of Suharto's children were seen in the room except Tommy.
Suharto's youngest son Hutomo Mandala Putra, popularly known as Tommy, was reported to have visited his father in secret early Saturday to avoid reporters, his lawyer told detik.com news website.
Prosecutors are trying to slap a multi-million-dollar law suit against Tommy in a land scam case he was criminally cleared of. He has also been named as a suspect in a criminal case that involves a state monopoly he used to head.
Suharto, who stepped down from his 32-year rule amid mass protests in 1998, has been accused of being one of the 20th century's worst kleptocrats by amassing billions of dollars for himself, his family and cronies while in power.
Rahardjo said Suharto would need surgery to add "another branch to his pacemaker", an operation he described as "very complex".
It was unclear whether doctors would perform the procedure immediately. A team of experts, recruited from various hospitals in Jakarta, are closely monitoring his condition.
"His kidney function has deteriorated and we are worried that if his lungs follow, his condition will worsen," said Rahardjo, adding that Suharto may have to be placed on dialysis if he continues to get worse.
Suharto's last trip to hospital for serious reasons was in May 2006 when he was rushed in for treatment following a bout of intestinal bleeding, and spent almost a month there.
- AFP/so
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