Reuters: Doctors say Suharto improving 07 January

Suharto has been in a critical condition for more than a week and suffered multiple organ failure on Friday (January 11). He was rushed to Pertamina hospital suffering from anaemia and low blood pressure due to heart, lung and kidney problems.

Members of Suharto's family gathered late last night at Pertamina hospital in Jakarta where he was being treated after his health suddenly deteriorated. The head of the medical team who treated him said he passed away peacefully at 13.10 (0610 GMT).

The former Indonesian President has taken a turn for the worse, doctors said on Tuesday (January 8). Critics say he and his family amassed billions during his rule, but the former president and members of his family have denied any wrongdoing.

A medical team is battling to save the 86-year-old former strongman who ruled the Southeast Asian nation for more than three decades.

He presided over 20 years of economic boom but recession contributed to his downfall. He was charged with corruption after he was forced to resign but never stood trial because of ill-health. Suharto was in a critical condition on Friday. He had suffered multiple strokes and has rarely been seen in public in recent years.

The chief of the medical team treating the 86-year-old at a Jakarta hospital said there was only a 50-50 chance that he could survive. Family members have gathered there as Suharto's health deteriorated, while a "who's who" of Indonesian society, including relatives, government ministers, businessmen, religious leaders and military men flocked to pay their respects.

South Korean investigators say Lee Ho-Seong, a star hitter for the former Haitai Tigers, drowned himself after police launched a nationwide manhunt. Hours after Lee's death police discovered the bodies of a 45-year-old woman and her three daughters - the youngest just 13 - in a shallow grave 300 kms south of the capital, Seoul. Police said the retired baseball star was in financial difficulties - one of his creditors was his murdered mistress to whom he owed almost $200,000.

Tens of thousands lined roads to catch a last glimpse of the former president who died at the age of 86 on Sunday.

The initiative launched by Bush in 2003 is supporting life-saving anti-retroviral treatment for about 1.4 million people infected with the virus in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.