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MORROCAN police investigating a reported sighting of missing British
girl Madeleine McCann say they found a blonde girl in recent days, but it was
not her.
"When we get information on little Madeleine the reaction is
immediate," the head of Morocco's
judicial police said.
Abdelmajid Chadili said
officers had searched the coastal towns of Fnideq and
Al Hoceima in the north of the kingdom following a
tip off.
"In the case of Fnideq, we did find a small
blonde girl," he said at an Interpol meeting.
"We found she was among her true parents and I can tell you she only
speaks Arabic," he said.
There have been several reported sightings of Madeleine who disappeared from
her bedroom in a Portuguese holiday resort on May 3, shortly before her fourth
birthday.
In August a Spanish tourist photographed a fair-haired child bearing a striking
resemblance to the missing youngster.
Mr Chadili, speaking on the sidelines of Interpol's
general assembly in Marrakech, warned people not to get their hopes up every
time a blonde child was seen in the north African
country.
"In a far away country, some people think it's not possible that a small
blonde girl can be Moroccan. But it's true, we have
children with blonde hair."
Madeleine's parents have launched a high-profile campaign to find her and there
have been media reports that private investigators were working on the case.
Mr Chadili said he was unaware of any foreign
detectives looking for Madeleine in Morocco.
Portuguese police named Madeleine's parents, doctors Gerry and Kate McCann as
formal suspects in the case on September 7.
They say their child was abducted and on Saturday announced they remained
hopeful she was still alive.
They have faced intense media speculation over what happened on the night
Madeleine went missing in Praia da Luz. |
