Birth of daughter brings joy for Jolie

HOLLYWOOD stars Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have had a baby daughter, in one of the most anticipated celebrity stories of the year.

A representative for the couple said Jolie, 30, had given birth to Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt on Saturday in Namibia.

The couple, dubbed "Brangelina" by the tabloids, have been closely followed by the paparazzi since arriving in Namibia several weeks ago for the birth. Jolie is a frequent visitor to Africa in her work as a goodwill ambassador for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

A doctor at the Welwitschia Clinic in Walvis Bay said there were no complications, and mother and child were doing well. "She is a healthy baby," he said.

The Namibian government has gone to extraordinary lengths to protect the privacy of Jolie and Pitt, 42, installing tight security around their hotel and the hospital and refusing visas to foreign journalists unless they had written permission from Jolie and Pitt to cover the birth.

Samuel Nuuyoma, governor of the region of Erongo, said that the couple planned to remain in Namibia for an unspecified length of time after the birth.

Jolie already has two adopted children: son Maddox, four, and daughter Zahara, who is around 15 months old.