Madonna offered support to Malawi child

London, Nov 1: Madonna has said she offered to support the African boy she plans to adopt and leave him in Malawi but his father turned her down.

Speaking to BBC television in an interview due to be broadcast in full later today, Madonna said: ''Yes I offered that option to the father and he declined.'' The US pop star created a storm of controversy after she plucked 1-year-old David Banda from a life of poverty in an orphanage in Malawi and flew him to her London mansion, where she lives with film director husband Guy Ritchie and her two other children.

Responding to media reports about the furore, Madonna denied the boy had received regular visits from his family.

''I never met a granny and I was told ... that from the day that he was left in the orphanage he was not visited by any extended family members and that's really why I became interested in him,'' she said in extracts from the interview that were published on the BBC Web site.

''If someone had said to me: 'His dad comes every week or his granny visits on a regular basis and he's well looked after', I would not even have given it another thought.'' Last week, Madonna said she had clear permission to adopt David from his father, Yohane Banda.

Speaking to talk show host Oprah Winfrey in her first public comments on the adoption, the singer also said she was told that David's mother and three siblings had died of AIDS.

The boy was flown to London last month after the Malawian government granted Madonna a temporary adoption order.

The BBC interview is due to be broadcast on its ''Newsnight'' programme at 2230 GMT.

Reuters