Doctors to examine Soeharto

JAKARTA (JP): Attorney General Marzuki Darusman said on Wednesday that a medical team would soon be sent to check the condition of former president Soeharto after the latter failed to show up for questioning at his office due to claims of illness.

"We will send a medical team to Soeharto's residence soon to double check the information we received from his medical team," he told reporters after a Cabinet meeting at Bina Graha presidential office.

Soeharto failed to comply with the Attorney General's summons on Monday. His lawyers contend that he was too sick to answer the summons as a suspect of corruption.

A day later, the 78-year-old ailing former ruler's medical team officially submitted a letter informing the office that their client was too sick to face questioning.

Marzuki did not mention the team's plans or when it would be dispatched to look in on Soeharto at his private residence on Jl. Cendana, Central Jakarta.

"As soon as possible," Marzuki briefly remarked when questioned.

Calls from observers and human rights activists have urged the office to seek a second opinion on the former president's health.

Lawyers representing the former president said the medical team, comprising 23 specialists, could not determine when the ailing Soeharto would be fit enough for questioning.

Soeharto, who has repeatedly denied allegations that he amassed a fortune for his family during his 32 years in power, was hospitalized twice last year, once for a slight stroke and once for intestinal bleeding. (prb/emf)