New parents Jolie and Pitt offer support to Namibia

Hollywood couple Angelina Jolie(R) and Brad Pitt give a press conference at a Swakopmund hotel. Hollywood's star couple praised Namibia where they had their first child, and pledged to support development projects.(AFP)

SWAKOPMUND, Namibia  - Hollywood's star couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt praised Namibia where they had their first child, and pledged to support development projects.

Nearly two weeks after the birth, the new parents held a news conference for local journalists at a hotel in the west coast town of Swakopmund that was also attended by First Lady Penehupifo Pohamba.

"We will support some projects in Namibia. Some will be for First Lady Pohamba who has started support projects for vulnerable people like widows and children," said Jolie.

The couple became the proud parents of their first biological child Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt on May 27 in Namibia.

"I was here for shooting a movie a few years ago and realized it would be quiet. When I met Brad, I wanted him to see Namibia and bring him here," she said.

Jolie, dressed in a simple black dress, said she would never have "got the peace and privacy needed" if she had given birth in Hollywood.

She also pledged her support to the southern African country's San Bushmen.

"We have met Bushmen children and we will do something for the Bushmen," said Jolie.

Pitt, meanwhile, said he was "very proud little Shiloh was born here and that she will get Namibian citizenship."

"It just would have been impossible and we thank all Namibians for having us and allowing us to enjoy family life with the kids," he said.

In a lighter vein, he joked that Namibia was "the best-kept secret in the world until we came."

The press conference came as Britain's Hello! magazine said it was taking legal action after pictures of their baby surfaced on the Internet days before the magazine was to feature them.

Hello! paid a small fortune for the rights to the photos, distributed by the Getty agency, which were to appear on the magazine's front page on Thursday in Britain and Spain.

In the United States, People magazine also was to publish on Thursday the much sought-after baby snaps, which had sparked a bidding war between publications.

Jolie has 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 a beach resort near Swakopmund in early April, where their bodyguards and Namibian police have shielded them from paparazzi.

The Namibian government had asked the press to respect the couple's privacy and deported three French paparazzi and a South African photographer after they tried to take photographs of Jolie.