Four Portuguese officials are currently in
Britain discussing DNA evidence that has
been examined in the investigation involving
the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
Police from both countries are believed
to have met secretly in Leicestershire on
Wednesday and Thursday.
These meetings were followed by a visit
to the FSS in Birmingham to view evidence
taken from the car hired by Kate and Gerry
McCann almost a month after their daughter's
disappearance.
A spokesman for the McCann family
confirmed knowledge of these meetings, but
said there was no indication that either
Kate or Gerry, who are formal suspects in
the case, would face any questioning.
"We understand there is no intention for
the McCanns to be interviewed, or indeed
anyone else", Clarence Mitchell was reported
as saying.
"We do not see it as a significant
development", he concluded.
The Leicestershire Constabulary said the
meetings were not due to any new
developments, saying that both sides felt
the time had come to sit down "faceto-face"
to discuss details of the case as opposed to
doing everything over the phone.
The team of four Portuguese officials
departed Faro airport on Wednesday morning
on an Easyjet flight to the East Midlands.
Two forensic experts, a detective with
the Polícia Judiciária and the
vice-president of the national pathology
institute, Francisco Corte Real, were on the
flight.
Their return flight is reportedly booked
for this coming Saturday.
Madeleine McCann went missing from her
family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz
on the evening of May 3 as her parents dined
at a nearby Tapas restaurant.
Madeleine's parents were both named as
official suspects in early September but
have not been charged with any crime, as is
the case with the only other suspect in the
case, Robert Murat, who was made a suspect
on May 14.
Robert Murat's lawyer, Franciso Pagarete
created a stir earlier this week when he
stated the McCanns should be "cursed" for
leaving their children alone.
"What they deserve is for somebody to
curse them, to make them pay for having left
three children unprotected", Murat's lawyer
told the 24 Horas newspaper.
"To top it all off, they have bank
accounts which are stuffed full", Pagarete
complained.
The laywer added that Robert Murat and
his girlfriend are on the verge of
bankruptcy.
Earlier in the week, Público, who have
awarded the case little coverage in recent
months, reported that Madeleine could have
been killed by an intruder inside the
apartment.
Earlier, the Attorney-General Fernando
Pinto told Visão magazine that he was unsure
the McCanns would have been suspects under
the revised Portuguese Penal Procedure Code,
which came into force a week after Kate and
Gerry were made suspects by police.
