Former Indonesian president Suharto dies
Updated: 2008-01-27 14:54
|
|
JAKARTA - Indonesia's former president Suharto, who ruled for 32 years, has died, a senior police official told reporters on Sunday at the hospital where he was being treated. He was 86.
"He has died," Dr. Christian Johannes told The Associated Press, adding that he died at 1:10 pm.
The general condition of Soeharto acutely deteriorated from 1 am on Sunday, and all organs failed at the same time, his doctors said.
Reporters saw relatives of the family crying and said that members of Indonesia's special forces arrived at the hospital.
The relique of Soeharto will be convoyed by his family members to his home at central Jakarta from the hospital later, and then be transported to Solo, hometown of the former strongman located at Central Java, by Indonesian Air Force C-130 aircraft. He will be buried there at his family's graveyard with his wife, but the detailed schedule is unknown yet.
A press conference is due to be held shortly.
Suharto was admitted to a hospital on January 4 and had been in intensive care. Blood transfusions and a pacemaker prolonged his life, but he suffered from lung, kidney, liver and heart problems. Over the past week his physicians had spoken of a recovery, but that had changed dramatically by Sunday, when his condition took a sharp downturn.
Soeharto had ruled Indonesia for 32 years before he stepped down from power following nationwide protests against his corrupt and repressive government in May 1998.
He faced numerous allegations of human rights violation and corruption during his rules, but in May 2006 prosecutors closed a criminal case against him due to his deteriorating health.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
||
|
|
|
|