Doctors give Gus Dur clean bill of health

JAKARTA (JP): Doctors gave President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid a clean bill of health on Tuesday following a regular medical checkup here.

Aulia Sani, the director of the private Harapan Kita Hospital in West Jakarta, where the three-hour examination took place, said the President was in good health.

"We conducted the last medical checkup six months ago, and as we all know the results were fine. We do it every six months, because as a state official he is involved in a lot of physical and mental activities .... Hopefully the President will stay healthy," Aulia said.

"We suggested that the President exercise regularly and eat good food."

He said the examination included an electrocardiogram and a heart scan.

After the checkup, the President said he felt fine. "Thank God, the medical examination went well."

"Nothing is wrong with my heart and my health in general. This was only a routine medical checkup that I have every six months," the President said.

Abdurrahman was accompanied by his personal medical team, which is led by his younger brother Umar Wahid.

Dozens of uniformed policemen were deployed to guard the hospital's main entrance gate while plainclothes policemen were on guard inside the compound.

The President said that on Monday, when preparing for the examination, monitoring equipment was attached to him, making him look like "a human bomb".

The President, who has suffered two strokes in the past, receives a medical examination twice a year, as recommended by the hospital's doctors and his personal physicians.

Since taking office in October last year, Abdurrahman, 59, also has twice received treatment on his eyes in the United States.

Some of Abdurrahman's critics have blamed his controversial and inconsistent policies on his health condition. (45/byg)