Jolie hits out at Madonna

(The Daily Telegraph )
Updated: 2007-01-09 15:26

Angelina Jolie has launched a stinging attack on Madonna, labelling her adoption of an African child "illegal".

She said the star should never have visited impoverished Malawi with the sole intention of choosing an infant.

The sultry actress's comments come after accusations that Madonna used her fame and money to speed the adoption of one-year-old David Banda late last year.

"Madonna knew the situation in Malawi, where he was born," said Jolie, who has adopted two Third World youngsters of her own.

"It's a country where there is no real legal framework for adoption. Personally, I prefer to stay on the right side of the law. I would never take a child away from a place where adoption is illegal."

Human rights groups in Malawi are still arguing that the singer used her celebrity and a $4.2 million donation to the orphanage where David lived to bypass adoption laws.

Despite her harsh words, Jolie, 31, said she still felt sorry for Madonna, 48, who has been harshly criticised since taking David back to London to live with husband Guy Ritchie and her own children, Lourdes and Rocco. "All that should count is the happiness of her little David," Jolie said.

In the interview with French magazine Gala, Jolie ruled out marriage to her partner Brad Pitt, the father of her six-month-old daughter Shiloh.

But she wanted him to become the legal father to their adopted children Maddox and Zahara. "Don't go repeating it whatever you do but, yes I love him. I love him a lot," she said.