Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew visits ailing former Indonesian dictator Soeharto

The Jakarta Post

JAKARTA (AP): Former Singaporean leader Lee Kuan Yew went to the hospital Sunday to visit his old friend, the ailing former Indonesian dictator Suharto, who was showing slight signs of improvement after being placed on life-support for organ failure.

A seemingly healthy Lee, who wore a dark blue suit and tie, did not comment to reporters as he headed to Suharto's room, where family members and friends gathered in recent days to pray for his recovery.

The two ascended to power in the mid-1960s and oversaw rapid economic growth at the expense of democratic freedom in their neighboring countries.

Suharto, whose 32-year regime was widely regarded as one of the 20th century's most brutal and graft-ridden, was hospitalized in critical condition a week ago with anemia and a low heart rate.

The 86-year-old initially responded well to a blood transfusion and kidney dialysis, but his condition sharply deteriorated days later.

Doctors said Friday he had suffered organ failure and placed him on a ventilator after detecting signs of infection in his lungs. But chief presidential doctor Marjo Subiandono said Saturday there were signs of improvement.

"His condition is better," he said. "He's more aware, responsive."

Marjo said antibiotics appeared to be having an effect on Suharto's lungs, but he would remain on life-support to protect his organs from further damage.

Another physician, Joko Raharjo, said Suharto nodded when asked if he was pain. He fell back asleep after being given a tranquilizer.

The retired five-star general was ousted in 1998 amid massive student protests and nationwide riots, opening the way for democracy in this predominantly Muslim nation of 235 million people.

He withdrew from public life, venturing from his comfortable villa on a leafy lane in the capital, Jakarta, only to attend family functions or for medical emergencies.

A series of strokes in recent years have left Suharto with permanent brain damage and impaired speech - keeping him from facing trial. He has been accused of overseeing a purge of more than half a million leftist opponents soon after seizing power in a 1965 coup. Hundreds of thousands more were killed or imprisoned in the decades that followed - crimes for which no one has ever been punished.