Soeharto being kept alive by machines, still conscious

JAKARTA (AP): Former Indonesian president Soeharto wasconscious, but being kept alive by machines and breathing with difficulty Thursday, doctors said, a week after he was hospitalized in critical condition.

Fluids are building up in the 86-year-old's lungs, but there are no immediate plans to put him on a respirator and no signs of pneumonia, said Marjo Subiandono, the chief presidential doctor.

Soeharto's blood pressure and hemoglobin levels have returned to normal, but his kidneys are still failing, Subiandono said.

Soeharto, whose regime was widely regarded as one of most corrupt and brutal of the 20th century, has been in and out of the hospital since he was chased from office at the height of the 1997-98 financial crisis.

A series of strokes have left him with permanent brain damage and impaired speech, helping keep him from facing charges of human rights abuses and embezzlement of state funds during his 32-year reign.

Soeharto was rushed to Pertamina Hospital last Friday, where he was diagnosed with anemia and a dangerously low heart rate.