CREDIT: SPLASH NEWS

CREDIT: SARA JAYE WEISS / INF

CREDIT: RAMEY

WINDHOEK  - Namibia has offered citizenship to the new baby girl of Hollywood couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, born near the western town of Swakopmund.

Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt was born at 1:40 am (0040 GMT) near Swakopmund, some 400 kilometers (250 miles) from Windhoek, the capital of the southern African country, said Environment and Tourism Deputy Minister Leon Jooste.

"It is with enormous pleasure that I inform the Namibian nation about the birth of Angelina's healthy baby girl early this morning," Jooste said in a statement.

"The entire procedure went according to plan and there were no medical or other complications at all."

"Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt will according to Namibian law be allowed to obtain Namibian citizenship if the parents should choose to do so," he said, adding that a Namibian passport for the new arrival would be discussed with the parents "at a later stage."

The girl is the couple's first biological child.

Jolie adopted two children, Maddox from Cambodia in 2002 and Zahara from Ethiopia last year. Their surnames have been changed to Jolie-Pitt.

The golden couple and the two adopted children checked into the Burning Shore beach resort in early April, where their bodyguards and Namibian police have shielded them from paparazzi.

The new parents are "thoroughly overjoyed", Jooste added, "and they have expressed their happiness to be able to share this experience in Namibia".

Jolie, 30, and Pitt, 42, will remain in Namibia for some time to allow mother and daughter to recuperate, Jooste said.

The movie stars, who became close during the filming of the movie "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" last year, "expressed their deepest appreciation for the love, warmth and kindness of the Namibian people as well as understanding from all during this special and sensitive time", according to the statement.

Jolie has helped draw world attention to Africa through her work as goodwill ambassador for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

She has been welcomed by the Namibian government which has asked the press to respect the couple's privacy. Three French paparazzi and a South African photographer were ordered to leave the country for trying to take snaps of Jolie.

Jolie visited the desert country and former German colony in 2002 for the filming of the movie "Beyond Borders".

"This is delightful news and it is an honour for our country, Namibia," said local Governor Samuel Nuuyoma.

"The birth of a baby is something very special in our African tradition," he told AFP by phone from Swakopmund.

There was speculation that Jolie had opted to have a water birth at the private Welwitschia hospital near Swakopmund, but staff at the clinic were tight-lipped on Sunday.

"We may not say anything to the media. We had to sign papers that we would not reveal anything to reporters," said a hospital staff member.

Local journalist Donna Collins said Jolie may have given birth at the beach resort.

"There was no movement of the usual Jolie-Pitt convoy of vehicles last night," she said.

The owner of the Burning Shore hotel at Langstrand, just outside of Swapokmund, declined to give details of one of the celebrity world's most anticipated arrivals.

"I cannot give you any details about the birth," said Guenther Heimstaedt. "All announcements are handled in Los Angeles."