Madonna was keeping tight-lipped today about her planned adoption of a 13-month-old African boy after his biological father claimed he never intended to give up his son "for good".

Yohane Banda said he meant only for the pop superstar to "raise" his child David, with the long-term outcome being that he would return to Malawi.

He also said he only signed an agreement on the assurance from government officials that Madonna would "look after" David until he had grown up and become independent.

Mr Banda, 32, said yesterday: "Our understanding was that they (Madonna and her British filmmaker husband Guy Ritchie) would educate and take care of our son just as they were doing at the orphanage."

A spokeswoman for Madonna said later the star would not be making a statement.

But she added that it had been stated previously that Madonna would bring David back to Malawi as a grown up.

The spokeswoman added that David would also "of course" be able to decide himself where he wanted to live as an adult.

Mr Banda, a peasant farmer, who makes a living growing onions and tomatoes in his home village of Lipunga, signed adoption papers earlier this month.

That cleared the way for a judge to grant the celebrity couple a "temporary order" to take away the baby, who was flown to London last week.

Earlier this week Mr Banda criticised human rights groups that have gone to court to stop Madonna adopting David.

But his new comments appear to take a different line on the adoption.

He said in a television interview shown on Sky News: "Had they told us that Madonna wanted to adopt my son and make him her own son, we would not have agreed to that.

"I cannot read and write so I relied on what the (government) officials told me, that the papers said Madonna would look after the child the way the orphanage planned to educate him and then he comes back to me."

Mr Banda gave David up to an orphanage at five weeks because he was unable to care for him when the baby's mother died shortly after his birth.

His comments could now throw into question an adoption that has caused a stir in the media across the world.

Earlier this week the singer said she and Ritchie began the adoption process many months ago and had acted "according to the law, like anyone else who adopts a child".

Madonna, 48, said they would undergo an 18-month evaluation as David's temporary custodians, "after which time we hope to make this adoption permanent".

But the superstar sparked anger among some children's charities and human rights groups who claim she has used her celebrity to "buy" a baby and bypass the normal procedures.

Later this week, a coalition of human rights groups will ask a judge in Malawi to review the case, claiming that the country's laws prevent international adoption, even by celebrities.