Madagascar's deposed leader says to return home

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Madagascar's deposed president Marc Ravalomanana will return to his country on Saturday in a move likely to stoke tensions in a two-year leadership row on the Indian Ocean Island.

Ravalomanana made the announcement in South Africa on Thursday, where he has lived in exile since 2009 when President Andy Rajoelina, backed by the military, seized power in Madagascar.

"I will return home the day after tomorrow, which is Saturday. Here are the tickets," he said holding up a batch of air tickets during a speech in Johannesburg.

The move comes two weeks after regional mediators indicated that a breakthrough was imminent in the political deadlock in the country, the world's largest producer of vanilla.

"I return to my country humbly, so we can return to democracy, and together, create a bright future for Madagascar," he said.

Last year, Ravalomanana was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment for the deaths of 30 protestors who were killed by the presidential guard as they attempted to march on the presidential palace.

Analysts say his return would risk polarising the island. Rajoelina's Justice Minister Christine Razanamahasoa has warned that Ravalomanana should be arrested and jailed if he returns.

"I know the risks facing my return but I cannot allow them to get in the way of us restoring democracy. I have nothing to fear. I have done nothing wrong," he said.

The leadership crisis has hammered Madagascar's economy after donors froze budgetary support worth hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Government spending dried up and private investment slowed sharply in the aftermath of the power grab.

Regional powers originally branded the takeover a coup, backing Ravalomanana's position that he had been unconstitutionally ejected. Francophone African countries appeared more sympathetic to former disc-jockey Rajoelina.

(Editing by Jon Herskovitz and Maria Golovnina)