TEL AVIV 3 Apr (ANA) - Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has suspended a deal with the UN to give residency to thousands of African migrants in exchange for Western nations resettling the same number.

 

Hours after announcing the deal, he put the plan on hold, saying he would speak with residents of south Tel Aviv, where many of the migrants live.

 

The arrangement had drawn opposition from within his governing coalition.

 

It replaced a plan for mass deportations to Africa.

 

Under the five-year agreement with the UN refugee agency, some 16,250 African migrants who entered the country illegally, many of them seeking asylum, would be resettled in Western nations, which Mr Netanyahu had said included Germany, Italy and Canada.

 

For each migrant resettled overseas, Israel would give "temporary residence" to a migrant in Israel, Mr Netanyahu told a news conference earlier on Monday.

 

It replaced a controversial plan to forcibly send male African migrants to third countries in Africa if they did not go voluntarily.

 

The nations were reported to be Uganda and Rwanda and Israel's Supreme Court had blocked deportations meant to begin on Sunday.

 

In a late-night Facebook post announcing the suspension of the UN deal, Mr Netanyahu said that earlier agreement had failed because Rwanda had pulled out.(ANA)

FA/ANA/3 April 2018--------