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BLANTYRE (Reuters) -
Madonna has asked a Malawian court to
delay a hearing to finalize her adoption of a boy from the
southern African nation, a lawyer close to the case said.
The singer's law firm in Malawi filed an application
requesting the High Court in Lilongwe to hear her adoption of
David Banda on May 15 instead of April 22, as originally
scheduled, the lawyer said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Madonna's need to travel to the United States for business
reasons was cited as the reason for the delay, the lawyer said.
Court officials refused to confirm the application.
"Adoption is a confidential matter and we separate adoption
files from the regular case files," Thomson Ligowe, assistant
registrar in the High Court, told Reuters.
Malawi's government recommended earlier this month that the
court approve the adoption of Banda.
The pop diva met the boy in an orphanage in 2006 and began
adoption proceedings soon after. He has been living with
Madonna and her film director husband Guy Ritchie in London
since shortly after the adoption process began.
The adoption has been controversial, with critics accusing
the government of skirting laws that ban non-residents from
adopting children in Malawi, one of the countries in Africa
hardest hit by AIDS.
The epidemic has left an estimated one million orphans in
the country.
(Reporting by Frank Phiri; Editing by Paul Simao and
Caroline Drees)
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