BRITAIN:Kate and Gerry McCann's new spokesman has urged a move "away from the rampant, unfounded and inaccurate speculation of recent days" and a renewed focus on the search for their missing daughter Madeleine.
Clarence Mitchell - who has quit his cabinet office job to assume this new role on behalf of Mr and Mrs McCann - said yesterday they were the "innocent victims of a heinous crime", adding that there were "entirely innocent explanations for anything the [ Portuguese] police may have found during their inquiries".
His comments came amid speculation that the presumed police case against the parents of the missing four-year-old was "weakening" or even "crumbling" following reports that a Portuguese judge had ruled the couple should not be forced to return to Portugal but instead be interviewed further by British police.
Although Portuguese media reports suggested such interviews might take place this week, UK police forces were quoted saying such an arrangement would be "unusual", while allowing that "anything is possible" in a major inquiry of this kind. Sources close to the McCann family said no formal request had yet been made.
Sir Richard Branson, who is donating £100,000 to the McCanns' legal fund, has said he trusts the couple implicitly.
And yesterday Mr Mitchell - who has resigned as director of the Central Office of Information's media monitoring unit within the cabinet office - said he had had "absolutely no hesitation" in accepting the position of spokesman for the McCanns.
A former BBC journalist, he was sent by the Foreign Office to advise Mr and Mrs McCann after Madeleine went missing from their Praia da Luz holiday resort. He spent almost a month with the couple in Portugal, sometimes for up to 14 hours a day.
"During that time I saw or heard nothing that gave me cause for concern or suspicion," he said. "To suggest that they somehow harmed Madeleine accidentally or otherwise is as ludicrous as it is nonsensical."