Senegalese President Abdoualye Wade has apologised to Christians in his country and around the world for saying that Christians do not pray to god. The Roman Catholic church in Senegal criticised the statement as hurtful and humiliating.

The president made his remark in a speech defending the construction of a massive statue symbolising the African renaissance. The project has been criticised by Muslim clerics in Senegal as "idolatrous" and "anti-Islamic". Hundreds of young Christians also took to the streets to demonstrate against the president's statement and clashed with the police.

Senegal is 90 percent Muslim and has a long tradition of religious tolerance and good relations with its minority faiths, of which Christianity is one.