By Telly Nathalia

JAKARTA, Jan 19 (Reuters) - The health of ailing former Indonesian President Suharto has improved and he could eventually recover enough to go home, the head of his medical team said on Saturday.

Suharto, who ruled Indonesia with an iron fist for 32 years, has been in hospital for more than two weeks and is on a ventilator after suffering multiple organ failure.

The medical team treating Suharto at Jakarta's Pertamina hospital said in a statement the former president was still on a ventilator, but his heart and lung functions had improved and there were fewer signs of systemic infection.

"Yes, we are optimistic," Mardjo Soebiandono, the head of the medical team, told reporters after being asked about Suharto's progress.

Asked whether Suharto might recover enough to be treated at home, Soebiandono told a news conference: "God willing, we hope so."

He said doctors aimed to remove the ventilator, something that was initially tried earlier in the week.

"We are still putting maximum effort to end the use of instruments step by step, because we are dealing with an old man who has been using the devices for quite some time."

Soebiandono said Suharto remained sedated and doctors would conduct a test to examine the strength of his lung muscles later.

Another doctor, Harryanto Reksodiputro, said only a small amount of fluid remained in the lungs and signs of blood poisoning had fallen.

The vast country of 226 million people has been gripped by the swings in the 86-year-old Suharto's health in recent weeks, with the former strongman ruler remaining a polarising figure.

His long rule was marked by rapid economic growth and political stability, but also saw the country experience massacres, human rights abuses and endemic corruption.

Suharto was hospitalised on Jan. 4 suffering from anaemia and low blood pressure due to heart, lung and kidney problems.

The head of his medical team said last weekend he had only a 50:50 chance of survival.

But doctors say they have been having success fending off potentially fatal pneumonia and blood poisoning.

With the former general so ill, a debate has emerged over whether to push ahead with legal action against him for graft.

After Suharto quit office in 1998 amid mass protests, he was charged with embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars of state funds, but authorities later dropped the criminal case due to his poor health although he faces a civil case related to the use of state funds by his charities.

Suharto and his family deny any wrongdoing. (Additional reporting by Adhityani Arga; Writing by Ed Davies; Editing by Bill Tarrant)

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