Portuguese judge studies McCann files

The parents of Madeleine McCann are waiting to hear whether a judge will ask them to go back to Portugal.Prosecutors have handed over a police file to the official and in theory any charges could be brought against Kate and Gerry McCann within days.It is more likely however that the judge will order fresh searches, carry out new interviews or impose stricter bail conditions.The papers include forensic results of evidence taken from various sites in the Praia da Luz resort where Madeleine vanished and details of police interviews with the McCanns.Relatives have said the couple would both return to Portugal if required by police.The forensic evidence may clear up whether Madeleine's DNA was found in a car hired by the McCanns after she disappeared.Alipio Ribeiro, head of the judicial police investigating the case, said that evidence was not conclusive. He said: "Various analyses were received but none of those tests are that exact, (giving 100 per cent certainty) so in other words we cannot say that blood belongs to A or B."Madeleine's parents left Portugal for the UK on Sunday after they became suspects in her disappearance from a hotel room in an Algarve resort while they were dining nearby on May 3. They have denied any involvement.© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.

ITN | September 12, 2007

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