JAKARTA - INDONESIAN doctors put ageing ex-president Suharto on the maximum drugs dosage on Tuesday as his condition took another turn for the worse and his body struggled to fight off infections.

Mr Suharto, who ruled the archipelago nation with an iron fist for more than three decades, has been clinging to life for days after suffering multiple organ failure.

'Treatment on the 12th day: ... The condition is worsening again,' said a statement from Mardjo Soebandiono, the head of Mr Suharto's team of doctors.

'The administering of drugs, especially to overcome systemic infections, is to be maximised,' it added.

Djoko Rahardjo, another member of the team, warned at a press briefing that the 'signs show that infection is (moving) in the direction of sepsis', or poisoning resulting from infection.

Mr Suharto's health has engrossed the world's fourth most populous country as it has improved and deteriorated virtually on a daily basis since he was first hospitalised on Jan 4.

Suci Maryono, a lung specialist working on the team, told a press briefing that doctors were still hunting for the main infection.

'There are infections in the lung, as well as in other areas there may also possibly be some,' she told the same briefing.

Earlier in the day Muhammad Munawar, a cardiology expert treating Mr Suharto, gave a more upbeat assessment but still cautioned that the former leader's condition was fluctuating almost by the minute.

'Many parameters, not all of them, show improvement but it must be remembered that Pak Harto is still being treated in intensive care,' he told ElShinta radio. Pak Harto is how the former leader is referred to with affection and respect.

'Anything can happen. What may now seem to be improving can suddenly worsen,' the doctor warned.

He said Mr Suharto was under 24-hour watch, was still on dialysis and had a ventilator to help him breathe. He was also being kept sedated as doctors struggled to keep his lungs clear of fluid.

Mr Suharto stepped down from his dictatorial rule in 1998 amid bloody riots and swelling protests and has since lived largely as a recluse in his family home in an upmarket Jakarta suburb.

He has been in and out of hospital for various ailments, including at least two strokes, since his enforced retirement, with his poor health allowing him to evade criminal prosecution for alleged massive corruption.

Mr Suharto's lawyer Juan Felix Tampubolon said separately on Tuesday that three-year-old claims that he was the most corrupt world leader in recent history were 'rubbish and unfounded'.

Transparency International alleged in a 2004 report that Mr Suharto and his family had amassed a fortune of US$15 to US$35 billion (S$21 to S$50 billion) during his rule, putting him top of a list of major kleptocrats.

Mr Tampubolon said that in 1998 Mr Suharto had given the attorney general permission to investigate whether he had stashed any money in Switzerland and bring it back to the country if it could be found - but they found nothing.

The permission was 'still valid, so if anyone knows the whereabouts of the alleged money, go ahead and get it and distribute it to the people', he added.

Attempts to bring Mr Suharto to justice for alleged human rights atrocities, particularly in East Timor, which he invaded in 1975, Aceh and Papua, have also been stymied.

His former vice president and eventual replacement as Indonesian leader, B.J. Habibie, was reported to be heading to Mr Suharto's sickbed from Germany on Tuesday, joining a stream of high-profile well-wishers.

Two of Mr Suharto's contemporaries and friends, Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew, 84, and Malaysia's long-ruling Mohamad Mahathir, 82, have visited along with the Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah.

Opinions on Mr Suharto's legacy remain divided as he brought stability and economic prosperity along with rampant corruption and rights abuses. -- AFP