PORTUGAL: Police intensify search for missing British girl Madeleine McCann, with policemen on horseback

Portuguese police intensified their search to find three-year-old Madeleine McCann, who vanished from her bed from a seaside resort in southern Portugal last week. Portuguese police, helped by their British counterparts, intensified their search on Wednesday (May 9) for British toddler Madeleine McCann but their efforts have so far produced no concrete results. Two police criminal behaviour experts from the UK flew into the Algarve region on Tuesday (May 8) to join Portuguese investigators working on the case. It is now six days since Madeleine disappeared from her bed at the Ocean Club holiday resort in the seaside village of Praia da Luz in Portugal's Southwest Algarve region as her parents, Kate and Gerry, dined just yards away. The McCanns have gone on television several times since Madeleine was snatched, hoping to appeal to whoever grabbed her last Thursday (May 3). On Tuesday night, as police moved to restore confidence in their efforts, the British Ambassador to Portugal stepped in to defuse criticism of the police. After visiting Madeleine's distraught parents Gerry and Kate, John Buck emerged to say that the couple appreciated the Portuguese efforts and said specialists from the two countries were working well together. Police in the country have already followed up 350 different leads, interviewed 100 people and taken hundreds more calls from the public but their response to Madeleine's disappearance has been criticised. "Well to be honest it seems as thought there is very little going on, today is the first time I've noticed anything happening you know, I've seen over here now there's guards looking through the shrub land, it seems as though there is very little going on which is a surprise" said search volunteer Andrew Forrester, "Back home in the UK the presence would be massive, you're only a mile away from where it happened and there's nothing going on" Senior Portuguese officers and diplomats have defended the investigation. They say they are doing all they can, but are prevented by Portuguese law from releasing sensitive operational details. In an interview with a British radio station, Portugal's Ambassador to London Antonio Santana Carlos said that Portugal had a system where the secrecy of justice prevails, which was a constitutional principle of Portuguese law that could not be changed. This meant that the investigators could not disclose the ways and methods that they are pursuing. The McCanns immediately insisted she had been abducted because there was evidence of a forced entry to the bedroom where she was sleeping. Police had said on Saturday they were almost certain it was kidnapping and had ruled out other possibilities.

ITN Source | May 9, 2007

Tags:. .sleeping. .yards. .justice. .guards. .evidence