Senegal pledges steps to curb illegal migration to Europe

Berlin- Senegal will do all it can to curb illegal migration of its citizens to Europe, the president of the West Africa nation, Abdoulaye Wade, said Tuesday. "We will do everything in our power to keep our citizens, our young people, in our country," Wade said after a meeting with German President Horst Koehler in Berlin.

Wade said Senegal had already entered into an agreement with Spain on the migration issue and was currently holding discussions with France.

Some 21,000 undocumented migrants from West Africa have arrived on Spain's Canary Islands this year, prompting a call from the government in Madrid for European help to deal with the crisis.

Wade, who is paying a four-day state to Germany, disclosed that he had been approached to mediate in the standoff between Iran and the West over Tehran's nuclear programme.

The president said his advice to Germany, France and Britain was to negotiate directly with Iran without any preconditions.

Wade, who is also due to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel during his stay, appealed to German firms to invest in his country.

Africa, he said, had made great strides on the road to democratization despite difficulties currently being experienced in some countries.

Koehler, a former head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said the world would do well to listen to what African leaders had to say.

"There is no issue in the world today that can be resolved seriously without the involvement of Africa," the German president said.