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JAKARTA - Indonesia's ex-president Suharto, who ruled the nation with an iron fist for more than three decades, suffered multiple organ failure on Friday and lost consciousness, his doctors said.
"At 5:00pm (1000 GMT), he entered a critical condition, he lost consciousness due to multiple organ failure," one of his doctors, Marjo Soebiandono told a press briefing at the hospital.
"We put him on a ventilator (for respiratory assistance) and gave him medication to overcome this critical condition. Until now we're still doing a maximum effort.... We ask Indonesian people to pray for him," he said.
He said Suharto, 86, had suffered "multiple organ failure of the heart, kidney, lung, and brain."
Vice-President Yusuf Kalla arrived at the hospital along with more relatives, an AFP photographer saw. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is currently in Malaysia on an official visit.
ElShinta radio reported that all of Suharto's six children were at the hospital.
Suharto, an authoritarian ruler for 32 years until he was forced from power in 1998, entered hospital on January 4 with anaemia and low blood pressure, as well as heart, kidney and lung problems.
He improved after dialysis and transfusions but his condition has since fluctuated considerably.
Earlier Friday, doctors had said that Suharto's kidneys were weakening despite ongoing dialysis and repeated transfusions, and there were signs of possible pneumonia emerging in his liquid-clogged lungs.
"We consider his kidney function to be very bad," Marjo Soebiandono told ElShinta radio in the afternoon, adding that he was producing far below the normal amount of urine.
Asked what doctors would be monitoring in the next few hours, he replied: "We hope that his condition becomes stable so that we can put him on (another) pacemaker because we cannot keep him too long (in this condition)."
Doctors have said Suharto's haemoglobin level must return to normal before he can undergo surgery to install a new pacemaker to treat his weakening heart.
Lung specialist Hadiarto Mangunnegoro said Suharto's lungs were inflamed, a preliminary sign of infection that could be the start of pneumonia if medication was not effective.
Suharto was in power during an era of massive growth that reshaped the economically-backward archipelago. But he was eventually undone by the massive corruption and rights abuses of his rule, in the aftermath of the 1997 Asian economic crisis.
A criminal corruption case against the former president was dropped in 2006 on health grounds, but a 1.4 billion dollar civil case into alleged graft involving a national charity is ongoing.
Suharto's decline has triggered calls from his allies for the civil suit to be dropped.
On Friday, about 30 rights activists visited Suharto's hospital, delivering a bouquet of flowers with a card reading: "May you get well soon but don't forget to respect the (law on corruption)".
"People are saying that Suharto should be forgiven, but we also have to take into consideration the people who seek justice by supporting legal action against Suharto," said Usman Hamid, from human rights group Kontras.
Outside the hospital, protesters held placards reading "Trial for Suharto."
Suharto has lived as a virtual recluse in the 10 years since his overthrow amid rioting and protests. - AFP/ir
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