Checkup shows Gus Dur 'stable'

Checkup shows Gus Dur 'stable'

BALTIMORE, Maryland (Reuters): Former Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid was found to be in stable condition during a two-day medical checkup in the United States, his brother and personal physician said on Monday.

Abdurrahman, a 60-year-old Muslim cleric who was ousted from office by the People Consultative Assembly a week ago, underwent a battery of tests for blood pressure and the after effects of two strokes at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.

The final examination took place on Monday, and Indonesian officials said Wahid was expected to leave the United States as early as Wednesday.

"Mr. Wahid was seen at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore on Friday, July 27, and on Monday, July 30, for a routine checkup that was previously scheduled for June of this year," said a statement provided by the hospital.

"According to Dr. Umar Wahid, Mr. Wahid's brother and personal physician, doctors at Johns Hopkins found the patient to be in stable condition."

Gus Dur, as the former president is better known, arrived at Johns Hopkins last Friday, a day after leaving the presidential palace in Jakarta where he had been holed up for four days after his ouster.

Before leaving the country, he told a throng of supporters that he would "return and continue fighting for democracy" in the world's fourth most-populous nation.

He surrendered power to Megawati Soekarnoputri, the 54-year- old daughter of Indonesia's founding President Sukarno, who won office after the assembly fired Abdurrahman for incompetence.