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JAKARTA - Doctors said Monday that former Indonesian president Suharto's strong will to live had taken them by surprise as he clung tenaciously to life in hospital, hooked up to a breathing apparatus.
The 86-year-old Suharto, who ruled Indonesia for 32 years, suffered multiple organ failure last Friday, a week after he was initially admitted to hospital with a weakening heart, kidney and lungs.
On Sunday, doctors gave him a 50-50 chance of survival and gathered his family to warn them to prepare for his imminent death.
But Mardjo Soebiandono, the doctor heading the team treating Suharto, said Monday that his "general condition is improving".
"His spirit to live is great -- we were also surprised," he told a press briefing at the hospital.
"There is an improvement in the functioning of the heart, the ventilator is still on, but there are also some problems in the functioning of his lungs," he said.
Lung specialist Hadiarto warned that fluids seemed to be accumulating in Suharto's lungs.
"The threat that may come, and we are closely watching for it, is the development of infection," he said.
Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah flew in to the Indonesian capital Monday to pay a brief evening visit to Suharto. Three current or former Southeast Asian leaders have gone to his bedside since Sunday.
Former state secretary and Suharto confidant Murdiono said the sultan prayed beside a sleeping Suharto, a fellow Muslim.
"The sultan, accompanied by the Bruneian ambassador, visited Pak Harto and was able to approach Pak Harto's bed," he said. "He prayed at the side of Pak Harto."
"Pak Harto" is an affectionate term used to refer to Suharto.
Former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad flew in to Jakarta earlier on Monday to pay an emotional visit to his old friend.
Suharto was awake when he saw 82-year-old Mahathir, Soebiandono said, though he was sedated again after he departed.
"Pak Harto has been able to shed tears. Pak Harto shed tears, Mr. Mahathir also shed tears," he said, adding that he was told this by one of Suharto's daughters. Pak Harto is how Suharto is affectionately referred to.
Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew, who is 84 and another old friend, jetted into Jakarta on Sunday to pay a brief visit as Suharto lay sedated.
Suharto was forced to relinquish power in disgrace a decade ago amid violent riots and pro-democracy protests triggered by an economic crisis in the world's fourth most populous nation.
While his government presided over a dramatic economic transformation in Indonesia, it was marred by corruption allegations and accusations of major human rights violations, particularly in East Timor, Aceh and Papua.
Suharto has never been brought to criminal trial over the billions of dollars in state assets he is alleged to have siphoned to family and friends, nor for the rights abuses.
Many in predominantly Muslim Indonesia remain divided over his legacy, with some looking back to his era as a time when everyday life was easier.
An offer from Attorney General Hendarman Supandji over the weekend to settle out of court a civil case seeking 1.4 billion dollars in damages and returned assets allegedly siphoned off by Suharto was rejected by a family lawyer Monday.
"We will refuse it until kingdom come, as long as it includes a compensation payment," lawyer O. Cornelius Kaligis told AFP.
The Tempo news weekly reported separately that Suharto was paying his own medical bills despite the state setting aside an allowance of 100 million rupiah (10,600 dollars) per month for his treatment since he was declared not medically fit to face court proceedings in a corruption trial in 2001.
The idea was that as the state wanted him to appear as a defendant, it should cover the costs of rehabilitating him. But Suharto has preferred to seek treatment at a hospital other than the one appointed for him, it said.
Indonesia has been preparing for Suharto's funeral for days, with the air force on standby to fly his body to the Central Java royal city of Solo, near the family mausoleum where he will be buried. - AFP/ir
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