Condition of Indonesia's Suharto

JAKARTA (AFP) - Doctors treating Indonesia's elderly former dictator Suharto said Saturday his condition was "very good" and that he may soon be taken off a ventilator and allowed to return home.

The 86-year-old ex-president, who ruled Indonesia for more than three decades, was first admitted to hospital on January 4 suffering heart, lung and kidney problems.

He was connected to a ventilator a week later when he suffered multiple organ failure but has amazed doctors by his tenacity in clinging to life.

"We hope and we are working hard so that Pak Harto can return home soon but I cannot predict when. Today's (Saturday's) condition is very good," Mardjo Soebiandono, the head of a specialist team treating Suharto, told a briefing.

Pak Harto is how the former leader is referred to with a mixture of respect and affection.

Soebiandono also said that Suharto's blood pressure was stable, his lung and heart functions were improving and signs of systemic infection were decreasing.

Another team doctor, Christian Johannes, said medics had been closely monitoring Suharto's response to being slowly weaned off his ventilator, which he has been on since January 11, for the past few days.

"Today we will check his respiratory muscles... Once they improve, then we will take him off the ventilator," he said.

Johannes told AFP after the briefing that Suharto was responding well.

"Of course he can only shake his head because he has a tube in his mouth. He may be able to speak otherwise," he said.

Suharto's condition has been fluctuating almost daily and doctors have warned repeatedly that despite occasionally upbeat reports he could still deteriorate suddenly because of his age and the extent of his ailments.

Suharto, who was among Asia's most notorious strongmen of the 20th century, stepped down in 1998 amid deadly riots and mass pro-democracy protests that were sparked by the 1997 Asian economic crisis.

He dropped out of public view and avoided criminal trial for massive corruption allegations by citing poor health. Doctors have said two strokes left him with some permanent brain damage.

Half-hearted attempts to bring Suharto to justice for alleged human rights atrocities in East Timor, which he invaded in 1975, and far-flung Aceh and Papua, have also been stymied, by a lack of collected evidence.

Opinion on Suharto remains divided in Indonesia, which also enjoyed dramatic economic growth under his rule.

Around 200 orphans wearing white stopped in front of the hospital treating Suharto on Saturday and prayed for his recovery. Small protests outside the hospital have also taken place since he was admitted.