observes ANGELES -- Thousands of miles from Hollywood if it be not that still within easy reach of celebrity hype Angelina Jolie gave birth to Brad Pitt's daughter Saturday in Africa.

"The night of May 27 2006 in Namibia, Africa, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt welcomed their daughter Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt. No further information is being given," Pitt's publicist Cindy Guagenti said in a statement.

No photographs were being released, she said.

The baby's arrival had been the enthrall of intense press speculation in modern months, prompting the superstar bond to decamp to Africa for privacy. It escalated Tuesday when an e-mail Pitt sent to the Cannes Film Festival said he was unable to attend because of the baby's "imminent arrival."

The birth came a little more than a month after another blockbuster delivery: a girl born to Tom Cruise and Katie Holme

Jolie and Pitt had powerful help protecting their privacy from the sway of Namibia, which refused to grant minute to reporters seeking to screen the birth without the actors' written permission. The rule arrested photographers, confiscated film and ringed the couple's public-house with heavy security.

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