MADELEINE McCANN UPDATE 23

Brown, Charles support Madeleine's parents.
By Sally Peck and Martina Smit
Last Updated: 7:29pm BST 26/05/2007


MADELEINE MCCANN

Portuguese police only released details of a possible suspect sighting in the Madeleine McCann abduction inquiry after her parents talked to Gordon Brown, it emerged today.

Beach with poster of missing Madeleine: Gerry McCann says suspect description is significant
Madeleine McCann went missing three weeks ago

The future Prime Minister personally spoke to Gerry McCann several times in recent days, pledging to do all he could to help find the missing four-year-old.

The McCanns were desperate to publish a description of a man seen carrying what appeared to be a child on the night Madeleine disappeared. Police - who were told of the sighting by a British tourist a day after the abduction - relented yesterday, following a meeting with the McCanns.

Today Gerry McCann said they believed the sighting was "significant and relevant" to the kidnap of their daughter.

"We very much welcome the decision of the police authorities to release details of a man seen by witnesses here in Praia Da Luz on Thursday, May 3, the night of Madeleine's disappearance.

"The release of this important information followed an earlier meeting we had with senior police officers.

"We feel sure that this sighting of a man with what appeared to be a child in his arms is both significant and relevant to Madeleine's abduction."

Three weeks after his daughter went missing, Mr McCann urged anyone who may have seen the suspect to come forward to police.

He said: "For instance, was this man seen anywhere else in or near the town with a child or what appeared to be a child, what direction was he heading in, did he have a vehicle?"

The suspect is described as a white male, 35 to 40 years old, with hair that was short on top and long at the back. He was wearing a dark jacket and light trousers when spotted at 9.30pm that night.

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