British Ambassador to Portugal, Praia da Luz, Algarve, Portugal
8 May 2007
"Ladies and gentlemen, Good evening. As you know I spent quite a lot of time with the McCann family on Friday and over the weekend and also supporting our Consular staff here in the Algarve. I wanted to come down today to see Kate and Gerry again and to continue to support our Consular staff who've been dealing with this case continually now for a number of days. I also wanted to assure myself personally that the necessary links between British and Portuguese experts here on the ground are working well and they are.
"As you know we have had three family liaison officers from the Leicestershire Police here with the family acting as a point of communication with the Portuguese Police. As I think you also know additional experts arrived today to work with their Portuguese colleagues on this investigation. I don't want to say anything in detail about the investigation but it might be helpful if I said a word or two about the background.
"This is and must remain a Portuguese Police investigation. As you know the Portuguese Police operate under Portuguese law and Portuguese law puts constraints on what they can say publicly and the information they can release. Against that background I have been in touch closely over the last few days with Cabinet Ministers here in Portugal, with the Prime Minister's Office and with the Portuguese Police authorities. They all assure me that everything possible is being done to ensure the safe return of Madeleine.
"We continue to work closely with the Portuguese authorities. They are very pleased with the collaboration with the British authorities. They are in close touch with Interpol and Europol and I and I know Kate and Gerry, with whom I've just been speaking for the past hour, are very grateful for their efforts. Thank you very much".
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