Indonesia’s former president Wahid dies at 69

JAKARTA - Former president Abdurrahman Wahid, Indonesia’s first elected leader after the 1998 fall of the Suharto regime, died Wednesday after long-term illnesses, relatives said. He was 69.

Wahid’s brother, Solahuddin Wahid, confirmed to the private television station MetroTV that Indonesia’s fourth president, who served from 1999 to 2001, died at a Jakarta hospital.

Abdurrahman Wahid, known by his nickname Gus Dur, which means Honoured Holiness Abdurrahman, suffered from heart failure among other ailments, Akmal Taher from Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital said.

Abdurrahman Wahid’s wife, Shinta Nuriyah, and his youngest daughter, Inayah, were at his bedside when he died and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and first lady Ani Yudhoyono were also visiting at the time, a relative told the VIVA news website.

Abdurrahman Wahid fell ill while on a pilgrimage to the tomb of his father in the East Java district town of Jombang and was rushed to a local hospital emergency room, the report said. On Saturday, he was flown to Jakarta and taken to the Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital.

The former president’s condition deteriorated after he underwent a tooth extraction Monday, the relative told VIVA.

“I am very sad because Indonesia is losing a great man, a leader of democracy, a character who always defended the weak and the minority,” said Rizal Ramli, who served in Wahid’s cabinet.