Soeharto hospitalized for low hemoglobin

Soeharto hospitalized for low hemoglobin

INDONESIA: Former president Soeharto has been admitted to
hospital, suffering from a low hemoglobin count, a hospital
official said Saturday.

"He was admitted yesterday (Friday) afternoon," said a member
of staff at the information department of the Pertamina hospital
who identified herself only as Tati.

She declined to give further details but Joko Raharjo, a
doctor from the medical team treating the former president, said
that Soeharto was suffering from a low hemoglobin count.

Joko said Soeharto, 84, had "a reoccurrence of intestinal
bleeding which has caused a lowering of the hemoglobin content of
the blood" but that his condition had begun to show improvement.

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 that former president, who
received the guests sitting, appeared healthy but did not talk.

Soeharto was hospitalized at the same hospital in May after
registering a low red blood cell count. He has been hospitalized
for intestinal bleeding and heart problems in the past. -- AFP