Madeleine McCann Christmas appeal to air on TV/Suspect wins damages from SkyNews

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...air-on-TV.html

Madeleine McCann Christmas appeal to air on TV
A new worldwide television appeal is to be launched at Christmas appealing for help in finding Madeleine McCann.

Last Updated: 10:39PM GMT 03 Dec 2008

Madeleine was nearly four when she went missing while on a family holiday in Portugal in May, 2007.

It is likely the appeal will be fronted by a celebrity - who has yet to be named - and concentrate solely on Madeleine and not her parents Kate and Gerry, who face their second Christmas without their daughter.

The appeal is also likely to feature previously unseen footage of Madeleine, who was nearly four when she vanished from a holiday apartment in Portugal 19 months ago. The Find Madeleine Fund is to foot the cost of the new appeal.

The McCann's spokesman Clarence Mitchell confirmed that discussions were under way over the fresh appeal.

"It is likely there will be a Christmas message with the focus on Madeleine," he said.

Mr Mitchell would not comment on who had been approached to narrate the film, but it is believed to be a sporting hero or some other celebrity.

The message will be done in video format so it can be used by broadcasters and the Find Madeline Fund website.

It is believed the McCanns do not want to appear themselves but are keen to spark renewed interest in the search.

Last month the McCanns admitted they faced a new blow in their hunt for their daughter.

They said there was less information in the released Portuguese police files than they had hoped. Among the files was a prosecutor's report that said the investigation had uncovered "very little" conclusive about Madeleine's fate.

The McCanns also confessed to being "low" as the 18th month milestone of Madeleine's disappearance passed, but have expanded their support team to try and find their daughter and understand what has - and has not - been done by the Portuguese police.

The McCanns have already spent more than £1m trying to find Madeleine, who disappeared on May 3, 2007 from the resort of Praia da Luz, in the Algarve region of Portugal, just days short of her fourth birthday.

The McCanns have previously accused the Poli­cia Judiciaria (PJ) - the Portuguese criminal investigation police - of exaggerating DNA evidence to name them as suspects after Madeleine vanished.

The police inquiry into the girl's disappearance was wound up in July due to a lack of evidence.

The McCanns and a third British national, Robert Murat - who have always strongly denied having had any involvement in what happened to Madeleine - were then declared to no longer be formal suspects.

The McCanns have vowed to "leave no stone unturned" in their hunt for Madeleine - who they firmly believe is still alive - and also say they may change the way they keep people updated about the hunt for their daughter.
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In related news:

http://uk.reuters.com/article/domest...081114?sp=true

Madeleine suspect wins damages from Sky News
Fri Nov 14, 2008 3:58pm GMT

LONDON (Reuters) - Robert Murat, who was a suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, won substantial damages on Friday over Sky News reports that there were strong grounds for believing that he had abducted the little girl.

Murat was declared an official suspect and was questioned by police after Madeleine went missing from her parents' holiday apartment in Portugal in May last year.

However he was never charged and was later cleared of having any involvement in her disappearance.

On Friday, Murat won damages and an apology from Britain Sky Broadcasting after settling libel claims over reports he had played a part in her abduction, the Press Association reported.

The High Court heard that an article and video on the Sky News website claimed that in the early days after Madeleine's disappearance from Praia da Luz, Murat's behaviour was reminiscent of Soham child-murderer Ian Huntley.

The article and the video, which was accessible until this September, also suggested that Murat had deliberately tried to mislead journalists by pretending to be acting in an official capacity for the police.

"The defendant accepts that Mr Murat did not act like a child-murderer nor did he try to mislead or lie to any journalists," his lawyer Louis Charalambous said.

"It acknowledges that Mr Murat's actions after the abduction were entirely proper and were motivated by a desire to help find Madeleine McCann."

BSkyB's lawyer Victoria Shore made an unreserved apology for the false allegations. The apology will appear on Sky's site for 12 months.

In July, Murat won 600,000 pounds from 10 newspapers over allegations he was involved in the disappearance of 3-year-old Madeleine and Charalambous said Friday's hearing ended his claims against the media.

"He has been entirely and successfully vindicated," he said.

The frenzied reporting by some media in the aftermath of Madeleine's abduction has already led to a number of libel actions.

In March, Gerry and Kate McCann won 550,000 pounds in damages from the Daily Express and Daily Star over stories suggesting they might have killed their daughter.

Last month, the "Tapas 7," friends of the McCanns who were with the couple on the night their daughter was abducted, won 375,000 pounds from the same newspapers over articles suggesting they had lied about the abduction.

Despite a massive worldwide hunt, Madeleine has not been found and no one has been charged in connection with her disappearance.

(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Steve Addison)