Portuguese detectives fly to Britain for Madeleine investigations

Apr 7, 2008, 12:41 GMT

London - Portuguese detectives arrived in Britain Monday to continue their investigations into the disappearance of toddler Madeleine McCann on the coast of the Algarve almost a year ago.

The team of three Portuguese officials, led by chief investigator Paulo Rebelo, will listen to interviews carried out by British police officers in the northern county of Leicestershire, where Madeleine's parents live.

But Kate and Gerry McCann, who have been named suspects by Portuguese police, will not be questioned in the current round of interviews.

Instead, police will hear accounts from seven friends of the McCanns - known as the Tapas Seven - who were on holiday with them when Madeleine disappeared from her bed in the holiday resort of Praia da Luz on May 3.

The parents and their friends - most of whom are doctors - were dining in a nearby restaurant when Madeleine, aged 4, vanished.

While the McCanns insist that the little girl was abducted, Portuguese investigators have refused to rule out the possibility of the parents' involvement in the case.

Despite an unprecedented publicity campaign and the use of private detectives by the parents no trace has been found of Madeleine.