Rights Row As Jolie and Pitt Prepare Namibian Nest

Threats from the government, a no-fly zone, journalists hunted down, photographers expelled, it sounds like the typical crackdown of an African regime quelling unrest. But this alleged erosion of democratic principles comes with a twist: it is in the name of tourism, Hollywood and the birth of "the most eagerly anticipated baby since Jesus".

Actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are expected to have their first child together within weeks in Namibia and the delighted government is doing everything it can to shelter them from the paparazzi.

Police have reportedly banned overhead flights and conducted door-to-door searches for local and foreign media who descended on the remote seaside hamlet of Langstrand, a telescopic lens away from Burning Shore Beach Lodge. The couple moved into the resort, sandwiched between sand dunes and the Atlantic, last month with their two adopted children.

The first snap of the baby, due around May 18, could earn $1m, according to photography agencies. "Not since Jesus has a baby been so eagerly anticipated," said New York magazine.

Samuel Nujoma, governor of Namibia's Erongo area, which covers Long Beach, told Reuters: "We don't want them to be harassed."

Human rights groups have denounced the measures as a breach of Namibia's constitutional guarantee of civil liberties. Three photographers from France and one from South Africa were expelled and police, backed up by the celebrities' minders, treated the media influx as if it were criminal, said the National Society of Human Rights. "We condemn the heavy-handed and brutal tactics," it said, adding that the government could use the precedent for future political crackdowns.

The police denied harassing photographers or seizing equipment and said officers were merely trying to shield the Hollywood couple from invasion of privacy.