Indonesian ex-dictator Suharto dies

JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- Former Indonesian dictator Suharto -- the "smiling general" who ruled his country with an iron fist for three decades -- died Sunday at a hospital in Jakarta, said his doctor. He was 86.
He was rushed to Pertamina Hospital on January 4 for treatment of a failing liver, heart and lungs, his doctors said.

He had been suffering at home for five days.

His death comes just a day after his doctors said he appeared to be making a remarkable recovery.
"My father passed away peacefully," cried Suharto's eldest daughter, Tutut, according to The Associated Press. "May God bless him and forgive all of his mistakes."

A week of national mourning was declared by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is taking charge of a state funeral after Suharto's body is flown by Air Force planes to the family mausoleum.

In a televised address, Yudhoyono called on "the people of Indonesia to pay their last respects to one of Indonesia's best sons and national leader who has done very great service to his beloved nation."

Suharto, who, like other Indonesians, only has one name, was president of Indonesia from 1967 until he was forced to resign -- amid immense political pressure and mass street protests -- in 1998. Poor health kept him from court after he left office.

Suharto was vilified as one of the world's most brutal rulers and was accused of overseeing a reign of corruption and, later, economic decline.

Most of the political killings blamed on Suharto took place in the 1960s. Later about 300,000 people were killed, disappeared or jailed in the fight for independence in East Timor, Aceh and Papua, human rights groups and the United Nations say.

But he is also credited with shaping modern Indonesia, a mainly Muslim country of 235million people, by boosting its economy and making the sprawling archipelago a regional power.
"He was known as the smiling general. He could be very charming, but behind that smile was this streak of steel," said Richard Woolcott, Australia's former ambassador to Indonesia.

"In the short term, he'll probably be judged fairly harshly by Australian critics and others in the West, but in the longer term, I suspect historians will see his contributions to Indonesia in a very positive light," Woolcott told CNN.

But Jeffrey Winters, associate professor of political economy at Northwestern University, told AP corruption effectively robbed "Indonesia of some of the most golden decades, and its best opportunity to move from a poor to a middle class country."

"When Indonesia does finally go back and redo history, (its people) will realize that Suharto is responsible for some of the worst crimes against humanity in the 20th century," Winters added.