Soeharto discharged from hospital

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Former president Soeharto has been discharged from Pertamina Hospital after two days of treatment.

Haryanto Reksodiputro, a staff doctor at the hospital, said on Sunday that Soeharto had been admitted with a low red blood cell count but his condition had improved after two blood transfusions.

He said that although Soeharto had been allowed to go home doctors would continue to monitor his condition, particularly his critical vital organ function.

Previously, Joko Raharjo, a doctor from the medical team treating the former president, said Soeharto had suffered from a reoccurrence of intestinal bleeding.

When he was admitted to the hospital on Friday afternoon, his hemoglobin count was only 9.3 before rising to 10.7 on Sunday.

"We're now waiting for his hemoglobin count to reach the normal level of 11.7 and, in order to achieve better results, we must give him one more blood transfusion," Joko said.

Soeharto was seen leaving the hospital on Sunday morning. He was accompanied to his car by his eldest daughter Siti "Tutut" Hardiyanti Rukmana.

He was admitted to the same hospital in May also with a low red blood cell count. He has been hospitalized for intestinal bleeding and heart problems in the past.

Soeharto, who ruled the country with an iron fist until 1998, was admitted to the hospital a day after receiving hundreds of well-wishers, mostly former top government officials, at his home in central Jakarta. Visitors said the former president, who received the guests sitting, appeared healthy but did not talk.

The former autocrat escaped trial for suspected graft amounting to US$600 million in 2000 on health grounds, with lawyers offering medical evidence that he could no longer hold a normal conversation.