JAKARTA, Indonesia - The health of 86-year-old former Indonesian dictator Suharto deteriorated Wednesday, with a potentially lethal infection spreading through his body, his doctors said.

Suharto, who ruled the country for 32 years until he was toppled a decade ago by a pro-democracy uprising, has also developed digestive trouble and severe pneumonia, said Dr. Joko Raharjo, a member of the presidential medical team.

"We are trying hard to find and detect the bacteria and treat him with proper antibiotics but we cannot guarantee it will be successful,'' he said.

"We are not happy with his condition today.''

Suharto, who was rushed to a hospital with anemia and a dangerously low heart rate Jan. 4, has suffered multiple organ failure and is on a ventilator and a dialysis machine and is being fed through a tube.

A week after being admitted to Pertamina Hospital in the capital Jakarta, his heart briefly stopped and doctors said privately he was on the verge of death. Preparations began for a state funeral.

Last weekend, doctors became more optimistic, saying he was staging an "amazing recovery,'' had spoken, eaten and moved his hands.

But on Wednesday, his condition took a turn for the worse and doctors said tests revealed "systematic infection.''

Such an infection, or sepsis, is particularly dangerous for the elderly and patients in critical condition.

"His condition is worse this morning because fluid is accumulating in his lungs and the pneumonia has spread to both lungs,'' said another physician, Dr. Hadiarto Mangunnegoro.

Suharto led a regime widely regarded as one of the 20th century's most brutal and corrupt. Since being toppled in May 1998 amid massive street protests, he has lived a reclusive life in a comfortable villa in downtown Jakarta.

He was admitted to the hospital several times in recent years after suffering intestinal bleeding and strokes that impaired his speech.

Between 300,000 and 800,000 alleged communist sympathizers were killed during his rise to power from 1965 to 1968, a spasm of violence led by the Indonesian army and conservative Muslim groups.

His troops killed another 300,000 in military operations against independence movements in Papua, Aceh and East Timor, while hundreds of thousands of others were jailed without trial or disappeared. No one has been punished for the killings.

Transparency International has said Suharto and his family amassed billions of dollars in stolen state funds, an allegation he has denied.