---------------------------------------------------------- FREE for JOIN Indonesia Daily News Online via EMAIL: go to: http://www.indo-news.com/subscribe.html - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - Please Visit Our Sponsor http://www.indo-news.com/cgi-bin/ads1 ---------------------------------------------------------- Hospital visitors steal Suharto's flowers JAKARTA, July 23 (AFP) - A hundred bouquets of flowers intended for former Indonesian president Suharto were looted from outside the hospital where he was recuperating from a stroke Friday. The flowers, ordered by a single anonymous man, arrived late in the afternoon at Pertamina Hospital in Jakarta, packed on two open trucks. Cards accompanying the bouquests bore similar "get well soon" messages but under different names, supposedly from across the country. Checks with two Jakarta florists revealed that the flowers, which had cost 3.5 million rupiah (516 dollars), were ordered by one man who ordered the florists to send them from a prepared list of "well wishers." But soon after their arrival, hospital visitors descended en masse on the bouquets and grabbed them all for their own friends and relatives, leaving none for the former president. The chaotic scene contrasted strongly with government concern over 78-year-old Suharto's health, who suffered a mild stroke on Tuesday. Earlier Friday a US-trained neurologist who visited him Friday denied he was even partially paralayzed. "No, he could move both his arms very well," Mahar Mardjono replied when asked. "He could shake my hand and said 'Hi' to me," Mardjono told AFP. Mardjono, who graduated as a neurologist from the University of California, declined to say whether his visit was professional. Suharto's doctors have said they have detected a blood clot in Suharto's brain, but added he would not require surgery. They have also said his speech has been slightly slurred since the stroke. Late Friday the medical team reported to Suharto's successor and one-time protege President B.J. Habibie. They said they advised Habibie not to try to visit Suharto until his condition improved. "Suharto's health is improving each day, in medical and general terms," team leader Ibrahim Ginting said. Pertamina hospital manager Sudjono Martoatmodjo also said stroke patients like Suharto were usually allowed home after two weeks and needed subsequent regular physiotherapy. "Normally for this kind of illness, it takes two weeks. For other patients after two weeks (the treatment) could be carried on at home," Sudjono said. He confirmed Suharto's movement and comprehension were good and said "hopefully" he could go home before two weeks was up. "The stroke affected the right side of the body, the hand and leg. He cannot go home yet because he is still undergoing physiotherapy. That coupled with intensive speech training," he said. "His hand and leg are guaranteed normal. "The disturbed areas are the brain's blood vessels. The affected area was not the center of consciousness and the stroke was not heavy and he retained consciousness." Suharto stepped down from power in May last year amid widespread rioting and calls for reform. He has since lived in virtual seclusion in his heavily guarded home in central Jakarta. Students and other reformists have urged the government to bring the former ruler to trial for his past actions, including alleged corruption, and to confine him to city arrest. However the attorney general's office said Wednesday Suharto would be allowed to travel overseas for medical treatment, should the need arise. And on Thursday, the attorney general's office said it was suspending a government probe into the millions of dollars allegedly amassed by the former leader during his 32 years in power until he was "100 percent recovered". But on Friday Justice Minister Muladi, who is also State Secretary, said in an interview with the Suara Pembaruan evening daily that the inquiry would go on. "The investigation of Pak (honorific) Harto's case is a process," Muladi was quoted as saying. "Just you wait. It will definitely be done. Pak Habibie would be in trouble if it's not completed." ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 23 Jul 1999 jam 19:59:17 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
