Respects Paid to Dying Suharto
By SETH MYDANS
Published: January 8, 2008
JAKARTA, Indonesia — It was the place to be seen over the weekend, the hospital bedside of Indonesia’s former strongman, Suharto, who was driven from office 10 years ago and is now hovering near death as his heart and kidneys weaken.
The president, the vice president, a former president and a small parade of the country’s power elite came to pay their respects.
They emerged with the news late Sunday that after being examined by 40 doctors and placed on a dialysis machine, Mr. Suharto, 86, was awake and had managed a smile and a weak handshake.
By Monday morning, his condition had stabilized, said Dr. Joko Raharjo, one of the many doctors who have cared for Mr. Suharto since he was admitted Friday to Pertamina Hospital with swollen intestines, a dangerously low heart rate and anemia.