JAKARTA, 05 May 2006 - Former Indonesian president Suharto has been rushed to a Jakarta hospital suffering intestinal bleeding, a news report says. Jakarta-based private television network Metro TV reported in its midnight program the former strongman was admitted to Pertamina Central Hospital in South Jakarta at 6.30pm on Thursday, with some of his children and grandchildren accompanying him.

A presidential medical team member said Suharto suffered from intestinal bleeding, which had reduced his haemoglobin count to 7.8. A normal level is between 12 and 13 for adult men. The doctor also said Suharto had been receiving blood transfusions. On Wednesday, he briefly met his longtime friend, former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad. Mahathir told reporters after the meeting Suharto was "weak and (found it) difficult to talk".

Suharto, 84, was last hospitalised in November, also for intestinal bleeding. He has been hospitalised on several occasions for various illnesses since 1998, when he was forced to step down in the face of mass protests after 32 years in power. He was a defendant in a multi-million dollar corruption case, but in 2000 a court declared him too ill to stand trial.

Former President Suharto on a a file photo from 2004.

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