This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk/7243070.stm
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Madeleine inquiry 'nearly over' | Madeleine inquiry 'nearly over' |
| (41 minutes later) | |
| The police inquiry into Madeleine McCann's disappearance is almost over, Portugal's justice minister has said. | The police inquiry into Madeleine McCann's disappearance is almost over, Portugal's justice minister has said. |
| Alberto Costa told a parliamentary committee in Lisbon that officers were near the "conclusion of the process". | |
| Clarence Mitchell, the spokesman for Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry, said the only satisfactory conclusion would be Madeleine being found. | |
| Madeleine, of Rothley, Leicestershire, went missing, aged three, in Praia da Luz in the Algarve on 3 May last year. | |
| Parents' hope | |
| Mr Mitchell said: "I am not going to react specifically to what the justice minister has said to parliament. | |
| "However, if the case is coming to a conclusion, we hope it will conclude shortly with the finding of Madeleine and her being reunited with her parents. | |
| "That is the only satisfactory conclusion for us." | |
| The committee asked Mr Costa about comments by Portugal's top policeman, the head of the Policia Judiciaria, Alipio Ribeiro, that detectives had been too quick to make Mr and Mrs McCann formal suspects - known as "arguido" - in the investigation. | |
| Mr Costa told the MPs there was no indication Mr Ribeiro had broken laws which prevent Portuguese police from discussing ongoing cases in public. | |
| "If there was any such sign...I am sure an inquiry would have been opened, and it hasn't been," said Mr Costa. |