LIPUNGA, Malawi (Reuters) - The father of a Malawian child that Madonna wants to adopt said on Monday he supported her case but wanted the U.S. popstar to bring his boy home for visits.
Madonna is expected to appear in a Malawian court on Thursday for what is expected to be a final and favorable ruling on whether she can adopt David Banda. She is due to arrive in the impoverished southern African country on Tuesday.
The pop diva began adoption proceedings in 2006 and the two-year-old has been living with her and her film director husband Guy Ritchie in their London home since then.
The adoption has been controversial, with critics accusing the government of skirting laws that ban non-residents from adopting children in Malawi, which has been ravaged by an AIDS epidemic leaving more than one million orphans.
Malawi's government has recommended that its High Court approve Madonna's adoption of the child.
"I have no problem with the government's recommendation to allow Madonna to get the child. This is what I wanted, that Madonna should keep the child," the boy's father, Yohane Banda, told Reuters Television in an interview.
One of Malawi's fiercest critics of Madonna's adoption bid, the Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC), said on Monday it was no longer interested in pursuing the case, removing another obstacle.
"It will be as a waste of time and resources to continue pursuing the case. Malawi has more pressing issues than Madonna," HRCC chairman Udule Mwakasungura told Reuters.
