BRITAIN:Kate and Gerry McCann have sent a public message to their missing daughter Madeleine expressing their anguish.
"Our only Christmas wish is for you to be back with us again," it said. In a worldwide Christmas appeal recorded at their home in Rothley, Leicestershire, the couple told the four-year-old: "Be brave sweetheart."
Madeleine (4) vanished from the McCanns' holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3rd.
Despite being declared arguidos - or suspects - by Portuguese police, her parents have spearheaded a campaign appealing for information which could lead to her return.
They strenuously deny any involvement and believe that Madeleine may still be alive.
The video, which is being made available to all broadcasters worldwide, also includes three clips of Madeleine filmed last Christmas which have not been seen publicly before.
In one she is shown excitedly opening a parcel containing the same pink bag she took on holiday in May. In another she is carrying a gift from her to her brother Sean, while in a third she is standing on the kitchen table.
Sitting in front of the family Christmas tree with his wife by his side, Gerry McCann speaks of how this will be the "hardest Christmas imaginable".
The couple discuss the possibility that someone knows what happened to their daughter, who vanished while they were eating in a tapas restaurant metres away from where Madeleine was sleeping.
They make a direct appeal to such a person to end their "despair and anguish" at Christmas.
Kate then speaks directly to Madeleine in the hope that she is watching, passing on her parents' love and that of her two-year-old twin siblings Sean and Amelie.
Her father says: "This special time of year is all about families coming together with love and peace.Clearly for us and the rest of our family it's going to be the hardest Christmas imaginable without Madeleine here," Gerry McCann adds in the three-minute 18- second video.
He says: "Since Madeleine was taken from us on May 3rd, someone knows what happened to her and may well know where she is now. That person has it within their power to show us the compassion to end this terrible ordeal for us."
Kate McCann then says: "If that person is you, we understand that you may be staying silent because of fear for yourself or through misguided loyalty to other people.
"But you must understand that you hold the key to ending all this despair and anguish, for both us and Madeleine."
Then, in a direct message to her daughter, she says: "Madeleine, it's mummy and daddy here. Just know how much we love you, Madeleine. We all miss you so much."