Suharto's condition remains grave

JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- Former Indonesian President Suharto's condition remains grave but has improved slightly in recent hours, doctors said.

Suharto surprised his medical team by surviving through the night, doctors told reporters at a press briefing in Jakarta on Monday morning. Yet the best-case scenario for him is long-term infirmity, doctors said.

The former president's blood pressure returned to levels that are closer to normal, and a blood transfusion increased his red blood cell count, according to doctors, but he remains in a hospital bed, battling for life.

Doctors at Pertamina Hospital said earlier they would continue to keep Suharto, 86, on a ventilator until all his organs stop functioning.

On Sunday, they pegged his chances of recovery at "50-50" and called his condition "very critical." As Suharto's heart and lungs showed further decline, his family remained at his bedside, reciting verses from the Quran.

His family granted doctors permission to take him off life support when they see fit, but such a step did not seem imminent, doctors said around 10 a.m. Monday in Jakarta (10 p.m. Sunday E.T.).

On Saturday, Indonesia's attorney general made an offer to Suharto's family to settle civil claims of $1.5 billion that the ex-president is accused of stealing from the state during his 32-year regime.

Lawyers for the family told CNN they were rejecting the offer because it was inappropriate to talk about the corruption case during such a difficult time, and because Suharto has denied doing anything wrong.

Suharto was rushed to Pertamina Hospital in Jakarta on January 4 for treatment of a failing liver, heart and lungs, his doctors said. He had been suffering at home for five days.

On Saturday, his condition showed some signs of improving. But a day later, doctors said it took a turn for the worse again.

Suharto was president of Indonesia from 1967 until his resignation, under immense political pressure, in 1998.

He steered Indonesia through a period of economic improvement, was staunchly anti-Communist and drew his country closer to the West.

However, his ruthless methods resulted in thousands of deaths, said Jusuf Wanandi from the Center of Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta. And his family is accused of amassing billion of dollars in state funds during his reign. E-mail to a friend

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