Paparazzi in Namibia anxiously await Brangelina birth

May 21, 2006, 13:41 GMT

Johannesburg - A South African photographer seeking to document the much-anticipated birth of the baby of Hollywood glamour pair Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt in Namibia where the couple have been cocooned for several weeks, reports said Sunday.

John Libenberg was taken into police custody on Friday when he was spotted at a police station near the Welwitschia private hospital in Walvis Bay and arrested, reportedly for trying to capture an image of the facility amid reports that Jolie had been rushed there in a state of labour.

The impending birth has drawn wide international media interest, with the Johannesburg-based Sunday Times carrying a story saying: 'Paparazzi gathered in Nambia are pacing the floor like anxious fathers in a maternity ward.'

By Sunday there was no confirmation that the 30-year-old Jolie had in fact given birth as the Namibian media predicted - numerous reports gave May 18 as her due date - while Liebenberg, on assignment for South Africa tabloid magazines, stayed in police custody.

Authorities in Namibia have been both delighted that Jolie and Pitt have put the vast but sparsely populated south-west African country on the map and eager to help boost the efforts of a band of private bodyguards to ensure the couple's privacy at various lodges and hotels.

Namibians have remained relatively oblivious, even uninterested in the presence of two of the biggest names in showbiz - the couple is often simply referred to as 'Brangelina' - and their two adopted offspring. Many appear quite amused by the sudden interest their desert country has sparked among foreigners, particularly Americans.