By Pascal Fletcher

DAKAR, Feb 23 (Reuters) - President Abdoulaye Wade asked Senegal's voters on Friday to re-elect him for a second term, promising to create thousands of jobs to halt the flow of desperate young illegal migrants trying to reach Europe.

In a speech wrapping up his campaign before an election on Sunday, the octogenarian leader called himself "president of the young" and promised to build highways, five-star hotels, trains, ports and airports to modernise his country.

Several thousand dancing, singing supporters chanted "The man is strong" and "First Round, First Round", a reference to Wade's declared aim to win more than 50 percent of the votes on Sunday, which would avoid the need for a second round run-off.

"My record is there, you have seen it, it's visible and its palpable," Wade, wearing an embroidered blue robe and a white cap and scarf, told the cheering crowd at a rally in Dakar.

The president, flagbearer of the liberal Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS), is widely expected to finish ahead in the field of 15 candidates in Sunday's ballot, which includes several former allies running against him. But some analysts question whether he can carry the election in the first round.

The president, elected in 2000 when he broke the rival Socialist Party's 40-year grip on power, argues he has boosted Senegal's image as one of the most stable democracies in a troubled region better known for brutal wars and repeated coups.

But his opponents cite persistent rural poverty, deficiencies in infrastructure and services, high unemployment, rising prices and an exodus of young Senegalese leaving for Europe as examples of a failure to deliver on promises.

Wade recited a list of further promises on Friday, including plans to develop tourism and launch major new investment and public works projects in the former French colony, including a new airport outside Dakar.

"Dakar will be one of the most beautiful capitals of our continent," he said. A spate of chronic power cuts, traffic chaos caused by major construction projects, and a failing refuse collection system that leaves piles of rubbish around the city have fuelled popular discontent over the last year.

"In two years, the majority of Senegalese will find jobs," the president promised. He was flanked by his ministers and leaders of the Islamic Mouride brotherhood who are economically and socially influential in predominantly Muslim Senegal.

"BARCELONA OR DEATH"

The drama of thousands of young Senegalese arriving parched and exhausted in the Spanish Canary Islands after long voyages in open boats has focused international attention on Senegal.

Complaining they face unemployment and low salaries at home, the young Africans say they prefer to risk their lives in clandestine migration voyages to seek a better life in Europe.

"Barca (Barcelona) or Barzakh (death in the local Wolof language)" is their motto. Last year, several thousand are thought to have drowned or died of hunger, thirst or exposure.

Accords signed with Spain that have led to illegal migrants being repatriated to Senegal have created an angry backlash against Wade's government among some young people.

Wade said his ambitious planned public works and farming schemes would help to halt the exodus.

"Our young people, instead of trying to go to Spain or France, will stay here," he said.

"I am optimistic, because I am the president of the young," Wade said, calling on voters to go to the polls peacefully on Sunday and to accept the results without violence. (Additional reporting by Diadie Ba)

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