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JAKARTA : Former Indonesian President Suharto ate pizza and had his bed rotated to face Mecca as his health improved slightly, although he remained in a serious condition, doctors said Friday.
Suharto entered hospital last Friday with anaemia and low blood pressure, as well as heart, kidney and lung problems.
"Suharto's physical condition is still unstable, (he is) weak but conscious," Marjo Soebiandono, a doctor from Suharto's large medical team, told reporters.
The 86-year-old patient was breathing more easily after X-rays showed a reduction the amount of fluid that had been building up in his lungs, Soebiandono said.
Suharto took advantage of his modest improvement to eat pizza with his family on Thursday, his lawyer OC Kaligis said.
Former Suharto minister Moerdiono also said Thursday that the ex-president also asked for his bed to be shifted to face in the direction of the Muslim holy city of Mecca.
Able-bodied Muslims are required to pray in the direction of the city as a central tenet of their faith.
"Pak Harto asked us to place his bed facing toward Mecca, even though a sick person is allowed to pray in another direction," Moerdiono said, using an affectionate name for the former president.
Suharto was in power during an era of massive growth that reshaped the economically backwards archipelago.
Suharto has lived as a virtual recluse in the 10 years since leaving office, with poor health leading to the cancellation of a criminal corruption trial against him in 2006.
A civil case demanding more than US$1.4 billion in stolen assets and damages over alleged graft involving a national charity that he chaired is continuing.
However Suharto still wields considerable influence among Indonesia's elite, with a stream of well-wishers rushing to his sickbed since his admission to hospital. - AFP/ch
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