The health of former Indonesian dictator Suharto, who maintained a brutal grip on the Asian nation for more than 30 years, has worsened, according to hospital officials.

Former Indonesian dictator Suharto walks with his daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, right, during the celebrations of his 86th birthday at his home in Jakarta last June.
(Edo/Associated Press)

Suharto's doctors at the Jakarta hospital where he is being treated told a news conference Friday that he had suffered multiple organ failure and is being given help breathing with a ventilator.

"We cannot say how long" he can be kept alive, said Dr. Muhammad Munawar, one of the medical team.

Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Kalla arrived at the hospital to witness his death, Reuters reported an official in Kalla's office as saying.

Suharto, 86, was hospitalized in critical condition a week ago with anemia and a low heart rate. He initially responded well to a blood transfusion and kidney dialysis, but his condition had fluctuated almost daily since then.

Suharto was ousted in 1998 amid massive student protests and nationwide riots, opening the way for democracy in the predominantly Muslim nation of 235 million people.

A series of strokes in recent years left Suharto with permanent brain damage and impaired speech, which prevented him from facing a trial on charges of corruption and widespread human rights violations.

He has been accused of overseeing a purge of more than a half-million opponents soon after seizing power in a 1965 coup. Hundreds of thousands more were killed or imprisoned in the decades that followed — crimes that were left unpunished.

Suharto and his family were also accused of amassing billions of dollars in state funds — an allegation he denied.

Oversaw invasion of East Timor

Most Indonesians keep Suharto in high regard for stabilizing the country and improving economic conditions, Radio Netherlands reporter Michel Mass told CBC News Friday from Jakarta.

"They don't remember the atrocities that happened during his reign," Mass said. "They remember that it was a peaceful, quiet time, mostly."

But several survivors of Suharto's actions still want legal action to proceed even if he dies, he added.

Suharto also oversaw the invasion of East Timor in 1974 and most of the 24 years of occupation that human rights groups say left as many as 200,000 dead.

East Timor, a former colony of Portugal, is the world's newest nation. It voted for independence from Indonesia in 1999 and was administered by the United Nations until it formally became an independent nation in 2002. But the world's newest nation has come perilously close to civil war several times in recent years.

In 1997, Suharto's presence at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in Vancouver sparked countrywide controversy after RCMP officers used pepper spray against protesters during demonstrations against his participation in the conference.

The RCMP Complaints Commission's report into the incident issued a sharp rebuke to the Mounties and the federal government for their role. But it stopped short of criticizing then-prime minister Jean Chrétien, who had assured Suharto he would not be embarrassed during the summit meeting.

Indonesia is the fourth most-populated country in the world.

With files from the Associated Press