UK force questions Madeleine McCann parents' friends

Apr 1 2008 Liverpool Daily Post

THE friends who were on holiday with Madeleine McCann's parents when the girl went missing are to be reinterviewed by police in the UK.

The group of seven will be questioned next week by Leicestershire Police, with Portuguese detectives present.

Four-year-old Madeleine disappeared from her family's holiday apartment in the Algarve last May.

Her parents, who deny any wrongdoing, remain arguidos or formal suspects. They will not face questioning.

Madeleine disappeared days before her fourth birthday in the resort of Praia da Luz, in the Algarve, on May 3 last year. The seven friends dined with Kate and Gerry McCann on the night of Madeleine's disappearance.

One, Jane Tanner, has already told the police she saw a man that evening carrying a child, close to the family's apartment.

It is understood a small team of Portuguese detectives would arrive in Britain next Monday.

Police interviews are also planned with relatives and advisers who were with the McCanns in early days of the investigation.

Separately, lawyers for the couple have requested two dozen other witnesses be interviewed, including staff from the Ocean Club complex and several British holidaymakers.