Madeleine's mother 'still just a witness' after 11-hour interview

The mother of Madeleine McCann attended a Portuguese police station alone for questioning yesterday, amid speculation that there has been a forensic breakthrough in the case of her missing daughter.

Mrs McCann, looking tired and drawn, finally left the police station in Portimao just before midnight local time in front of a throng of journalists and onlookers who had gathered in anticipation of a statement by her lawyer, Carlos de Abreu. Speaking in Portuguese, Mr Abreu emphasising that Mrs McCann was still being treated as a witness, not a suspect, in the case.

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Earlier yesterday, Mrs McCann had made a further appeal to the abductors of her four-year-old daughter as she arrived for the questioning. She pleaded for those responsible for her disappearance to "do the right thing" and release Madeleine.

The 39-year-old GP was accompanied by Mr Abreu, when she met police for the first official interview since Madeleine disappeared in May. Her husband, Gerry, will be interviewed this afternoon at the station 30 miles from Praia de Luz, where their daughter went missing.

Information from the Forensic Science Centre in Birmingham, where they had been testing swabs taken from the holiday flat where Madeleine was last seen, has reportedly been returned to Portugal.

It is believed that the McCanns have not so far been briefed by the police on any forensic results, and there is speculation that these fresh interviews may be due to what these tests have revealed. However, the official line is still that tests are still continuing at the centre.

The McCanns' spokesperson, Justine McGuinness said, before the interview: "Kate and Gerry are happy to help the police in their investigations to find their daughter Madeleine, as they have been since she was taken."

In her own brief statement, before entering the police station yesterday, Mrs McCann said: "I miss Madeleine so much. Gerry and I want to appeal again to the person or people who took her or know who took her to do the right thing."