Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade is backtracking on his pledge to give people from Haiti land in Senegal.

Last weekend, he said his government would make land available to immigrants from Haiti, offering a whole region if Haitians were to take up the offer en masse. Following fierce domestic criticism, he has now told Radio Netherlands Worldwide that the idea was merely a proposal.

Many Senegalese live in poverty and do not own any land. President Wade now says he plans to put the idea of offering Haitians land in Africa to the African Union, which could then decide on the proposal.

photo: Abdoulaye Wade (Flickr / tony4carr)