EXCLUSIVE Missing Maddie breakthrough by British phone spies Call about 'little blonde girl'

THE hunt for missing Maddie McCann had last night switched to Morocco again - as cops hunted a mystery German.

It came after British spies made a major breakthrough using a secret hi-tech phonetapping system.

Government spooks eavesdropped on a series of "extremely significant" mobile phone conversations.

The People has learned that the calls - all in Arabic and made on a Spanish pay-as-you-go phone - referred to "the little blonde girl".

The calls also referred to four-year-old Maddie's parents Kate and Gerry McCann meeting the Pope last week.

Intelligence officers from the Government's Communications Headquarters in Cheltenham, Gloucs, picked-up repeated references to a German man, and discussions about Morocco, Holland and Germany.

And in a potentially crucial lead, the Arab-speakers talked about ferry crossings from the Spanish port of Tarifa.

Eight crossings a day are made from Tarifa to Tangiers in Morocco.

The ferry journey takes just 35 minutes. And Tarifa is less than three hours drive from Praia da Luz, the Portugese resort where Maddie went missing on May 3.

A source close to the investigation revealed: "The information gleaned from these mobile phone calls is being treated very seriously. It could be extremely significant." Staff at GCHQ deployed the Echelon spy system.

It listens out for key words and phrases used in phone conversations, then monitors them.

The source said: "It's an incredible intelligence resource.

It can process three million electronic communications a minute. Pay-as-you-go phones are unregistered and hard to trace, so that is frustrating.

"But there is definite interest in North Africa again." Portugese police travelled to Morocco to investigate an alleged sighting of Maddie in Marrakech three weeks ago.

Tourist Marie Olli saw a blonde child with a scruffy man in his 30s at a petrol station. The girl, wearing pyjamas similar to Madeleine's, was heard to ask: "Can I see Mummy soon?"

Portugese police refused to comment on specific details of the inquiry. But they confirmed that they are making enquiries in Morocco. Cops have found no evidence to charge their only official suspect, Briton Robert Murat, 33.

They were accused of acting too slowly when Maddie was snatched from her parents' holiday apartment.

For 15 hours they failed to alert police on the Spanish border, 90 minutes drive away - giving ample time for the tot to be spirited out of Portugal.

Meanwhile, British forensic experts have gone to Portugal to help track mobile phone calls in the Praia da Luz area at the time of Maddie's disappearance.

Signals sent out by mobiles can be used to pinpoint exactly where they have been. Similar evidence helped trap Soham muderer Ian Huntley.

Suspect Murat angrily protested his innocence yesterday - and claimed HE is as suffering as much as Maddie's parents.

He also criticised the Mc-Canns for leaving Maddie while they ate at a nearby tapas bar.

Murat, who lives 150 yards from the McCann's apartment, said: "Portugese law says you can't leave children unattended. They broke the law."

He added: "I'm just an ordinary, straightforward guy who's the victim of the biggest f***-up on this planet. I'm going through exactly the same experience as the McCanns."

Agonised Kate and Gerry, both 38-year-old doctors from Rothley, Leics, admit they have faced the possibility that Maddie is dead. But Gerry insisted: "We believe at this time she is alive. There is a strong hope."

He added: "We have a lot of emotions and anger is one of them. This is an evil act. Madeleine didn't deserve this."