(6 Jan 2008) SHOTLIST :
6 January 2008
1. Exterior of hospital
2. Wide of doctors of former Indonesian dictator Suharto at press conference
3. Mid of doctors
4. SOUNDBITE: (Indonesian) Joko Sanyoto, hospital spokesman:
"Suharto's condition has shown improvements. He's still generally weak but awake. His blood pressure is 100 over 50. His heart and lungs have shown improvements compared to their condition yesterday. The build up of liquids in his body has been reduced."
5. Cutaway
6. SOUNDBITE: (Indonesian) Joko Sanyoto, hospital spokesman:
"Thank God, Suharto's condition has improved, but we are still putting Suharto under intensive care and strict monitoring."
7. Wide briefing
FILE: 3 May 2006
8. Various of Suharto meeting with former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad in his residence
STORYLINE
Former Indonesian dictator Suharto responded well to kidney dialysis and his vital signs improved on Sunday after he was hospitalised in critical condition, doctors said.
Suharto, 86, quickly showed signs of improvement after being put on a dialysis machine on Saturday evening, said a hospital spokesman.
Suharto was admitted to Pertamina Hospital on Friday with swollen organs, a dangerously low heart rate and anaemia.
"He's still generally weak but awake. His blood pressure is 100 over 50. His heart and lungs have shown improvements compared to their condition yesterday. The build up of liquids in his body has been reduced," said Joko Sanyoto.
Suharto was also receiving a blood transfusion and needs a second pacemaker, doctors said.
Suharto, accused of overseeing a brutal purge of more than half a (m) million left-wing opponents at the outset of his 32-year reign, was conscious but drowsy from medication, several Cabinet members said after visiting him.
Sanyoto said doctors were "still putting Suharto under intensive care and strict monitoring."
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono urged Indonesians to pray for Suharto's recovery.
A dialysis machine and other equipment was rushed to Suharto's bedside and 40 specialists assembled to diagnose and treat the former strongman, who was toppled by a pro-democracy uprising during the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis.
Doctor Joko Raharjo, a member of the medical team treating Suharto, said on Saturday that the former dictator's general condition was worse than when he was treated for intestinal bleeding and heart problems in 2006.
Raharjo said Suharto had been treated at home for around a week before being admitted to hospital.
Since his ouster, Suharto has lived a secluded life on a leafy lane in Jakarta and is rarely seen in public. Two years after his ouster, prosecutors filed charges that he embezzled 600 (m) million US dollar in public funds, but legal proceedings were suspended because of his poor health.
As an army general, he seized power in a 1965 coup and over the following three decades hundreds of thousands of perceived communists and separatist sympathisers were murdered or imprisoned across this vast island nation of 235 (m) million people. No one has ever been punished for the crimes.
Suharto is said to have suffered permanent brain damage and some speech loss from his ailments, but during recent Islamic holidays he received a stream of high-profile guests and gave a rare media interview in November after winning a defamation lawsuit against Time magazine.
Time published allegations that Suharto and his family had amassed up to 15 (b) billion US dollar in stolen state funds.
Transparency International has said the Suharto family robbed the nation of more than twice that amount.
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