Where Is Madeline McCann ?

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yeah, the pic was so like her...

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photo believed to show missing Madeleine McCann alive in Morocco is NOT her, it was claimed this afternoon.


The picture, taken by a Spanish tourist is thought to show Bushra Binhisa, the five-year-old daughter of a farmer who lives in the region.


The revelation will be yet another devastating blow to the missing girl's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann who admitted today that they had been on an "emotional rollercoaster" following several alleged sightings.

Bushra comes from a village in the Rif mountains in northern Morocco where her family have lived and farmed several generations.


She was captured on film by a tourist on 31 August - and the image of her bore a striking resemblance to Madeleine. "It sent shivers down my spine. Either it's Madeleine or she's got a twin," said Spanish tourist Clara Torres.


British experts who identify victims of sex abuse by face-mapping techniques had been called in to study the image.


But today Bushra was revealed as the girl in the photo.


Speaking through an interpreter, her father Hamid, an olive farmer with a smallholding, said: "Bushra is my little girl.


"She is not Madeleine. I do feel sorry for her parents, I hope they find Madeleine. But Bushra is definitely my daughter."


Clarence Mitchell, the McCanns' spokesman, phoned Madeleine's parents at their home in Rothley, Leicestershire, to tell them. "It is obviously a terrible blow."

Bushra's mother Hafida said she was surprised the photograph - which showed her carrying Bushra on her back - had sparked a major search.

"Even in this remote backwater people have heard of Madeleine McCann," she said.


Family friend Mustafa Hadid said "We are all shocked that people could think that Bushra was Madeleine. She does have a resemblance but blonde and red-haired children are not that rare in this part of Morocco.

[maryam9]

Apparently, that photo has been traced back to a girl from a village somewhere in Asia...

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Madeleine: Portuguese Policeman Removed

A Portuguese detective investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann was removed from the case Tuesday after scolding British police, saying they were being misled by the girl's parents who are suspects.

Portuguese police said Goncalo Amaral, a senior detective overseeing the investigation, had been taken off the case. They gave no reason for the decision, but his removal came shortly after he claimed that British police have been pursuing leads "created and cultivated" by Kate and Gerry McCann to shift suspicion away from themselves.

"The British police have been working solely on what the McCanns want and what suits them," Amaral was quoted as saying Tuesday by daily paper Diario de Noticias.

Portuguese Justice Minister Alberto Costa refused to comment, saying: "We have to concentrate on the work, not on making comments."

Madeline McCann disappeared May 3, a few days before her 4th birthday, during a family vacation in Portugal. The McCanns have insisted they had nothing to do with their daughter's disappearance and believe someone took her.

McCann spokesman Clarence Mitchell said the family would have nothing to say about the development.

"Gerry and Kate have consistently said that they are very happy to cooperate fully with the Portuguese authorities and they will continue their cooperation irrespective of who is in charge of the actual hunt for Madeleine," Mitchell told the British Broadcasting Corp.

A spokeswoman for Leicestershire Police, who have jurisdiction over the McCanns' hometown in central England, said the force would "continue to support the Portuguese authorities" in their investigation but declined to comment further.

One of the McCanns' two Portuguese lawyers, Carlos Pinto Abreu, told Lisbon radio TSF that Amaral's comments were "in very poor taste" and were unhelpful to the investigation.

British authorities have been cooperating in the investigation from the start. Forensic tests conducted at a government laboratory in Britain found evidence that DNA from Madeleine was in the trunk of a rental car the parents used after her disappearance.

The findings prompted Portuguese police to place Kate and Gerry McCann under investigation.

However, Portugal's national police chief, Alipio Ribeiro, said the forensic tests on the car were not conclusive and he expected the investigation to continue.

The investigation initially focused on the possibility that Madeleine had been abducted from her hotel room at a resort while her parents were dining at a nearby restaurant.

The parents, who have run an international campaign to find their daughter, returned to Britain last month, a day after they were named as formal suspects. They have said they are prepared to return to Portugal for further police questioning, if necessary.

The only other formal suspect in Madeleine's disappearance is Robert Murat, a British man who lived near the hotel from which she vanished. He also has denied involvement.

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Fresh DNA hope in Madeleine McCann case

The parents of missing Madeleine McCann have been given fresh hope at the discovery of a bag of clothes with a possible DNA link to their daughter.

The bag, containing a child's t-shirt and a pencil case, was reported to have been found just over two weeks ago in a layby near Faro Airport, an hour's drive from the resort town of Praia da Luz where Madeleine went missing on May 3.

The contents were said to have been handed over to detectives investigating the four-year-old's disappearance, who sent them on to the Forensic Science Service in Birmingham for tests.

During 10 days of analysis, scientists reportedly found traces of hair and skin with a partial DNA match to Madeleine on the adult clothes - a pair of jeans and a blue fleece - also found in the bag.

Kate and Gerry McCann, both 39-year-old doctors from Rothley in Leicestershire, cautiously welcomed the news as potential further proof that their daughter was abducted as she slept in their rented Ocean Club apartment that night.

A friend said: "It is encouraging because we think it shows that there is a chance, this could indicate an abductor has potentially discarded clothes on the way from Praia Da Luz.

"We realise this is not conclusive proof but we are encouraged the police have examined it and sent it for analysis so quickly. Certainly we feel that whoever owned the clothing has got a lot of questions to answer."

The couple's spokesman Clarence Mitchell declined to comment on the story, adding: "Gerry and Kate trust that the police will, of course, follow up any potential lead that could indicate she was abducted as that is exactly what happened."

It has also been reported that the Policia Judiciaria have asked waiters at the tapas bar where the couple and their friends ate the night their daughter vanished about their level of sobriety.

As part of his renewed push for answers, Paulo Rebelo, Portugal's second most senior policeman - who is now leading the investigation - has also summoned the two local police officers who were first on the scene to ask whether the McCanns and their friends seemed drunk, reports claimed.

Kate and Gerry McCann say they and their seven friends - dubbed the Tapas Nine - ordered six bottles of wine but only drank four before Madeleine was discovered missing.

Police sources suggested the group generally drank daiquiris, martinis and beers before dinner, up to 14 bottles of wine with their meal, and almond liqueur afterwards.

However, local police officers who arrived at the complex on May 3 were reported in the Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manha as saying that the group "seemed to be normal" and were not drunk.

The group's waiter, Jose Baptista, added that they were "very sensible" about their drinking and usually had eight to ten bottles over the course of two or three hours.

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Newspapers Apologize to Parents of Madeleine McCann

A British newspaper-publishing company has apologized for accusing parents Kate and Gerry McCann of playing a role in the disappearance of their 4-year-old daughter Madeleine, who went missing (and has yet to be found) while the family vacationed in Portugal last May.

"We acknowledge that there is no evidence whatsoever to support this theory and that Kate and Gerry are completely innocent of any involvement in their daughter's disappearance," says the Daily Express. "Kate and Gerry, we are truly sorry to have added to your distress."

The apology comes as the result of a libel suit brought by the McCanns, doctors from Leicester, England, who said they were forced into going to court after unsuccessfully trying to persuade The Express and its sister publications, The Daily Star, The Sunday Star and The Sunday Express, "to show greater restraint in their reporting," according to The New York Times.

In addition, the British papers also agreed to contribute nearly $1.1 million in damages to a fund to help find Madeleine.