By: CECÍLIA PIRES
PHOTOGRAPHS AND posters in Arabic supported the McCann family plea for help in their Moroccan visit early this week.
Kate and Gerry McCann chose this north African country to put an end to their first round on the campaign for tracing the whereabouts of their little daughter, Madeleine McCann, abducted from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on May 3.
“They are not stopping the campaign,” said spokesperson Clarence Mitchell to The Resident at the time of going to press. “They are only taking a very short break to decide where to go from here.
“Other countries will be visited by the McCanns, but they just need to reorganise their strategy on the search for Madeleine and then decide new destinations,” Mitchell said.
On the visit to Morocco, the public reaction was “surprisingly good”, according to Clarence Mitchell who said that the public knowledge on the case was evident. “People knew what we were talking about. There were many children on the visits we made and the McCanns were pleasantly surprised,” he said.
The meetings they had in Morocco included one with the Minister of Internal Affairs, Mohamed Benaissa, who assured the family the country’s authorities “will do everything to help” in the search of little Madeleine.
The McCanns only returned to Portugal on Tuesday (June 12), having stayed the night in Morocco due to a flight delay to Lisbon, where they arrived after 4pm. They drove to the Algarve afterwards.
On stand-by
For police investigators, things have got a little quiet now. Chief-inspector Olegário de Sousa told The Resident on Tuesday (June 12) that they were still waiting for the video surveillance images from the petrol station in Marrakesh, where Madeleine McCann had apparently been seen, a few days after the abduction, with a man who “was not her father” as referred by a witness.
According to the inspector, all police forces involved in the search for Madeleine McCann have already made contact with the authorities in Morocco in order to obtain the tape. “Portuguese Polícia Judiciária, Interpol and even the British police, who have a permanent liaison agent in that country, have made contact. But we are, unfortunately, still waiting,” he said.
At the time of going to press, the chief-inspector also confirmed that the police were also still waiting for the forensic results. He said that all possibilities are still being considered with regard to the motives of the crime.
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