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Lisbon prosecutors deny UK trip

Portuguese prosecutors said on Wednesday that the parents of missing British toddler Madeleine McCann did not need to be questioned again about the disappearance of their daughter last May.

"New elements of proof -- after interrogations on Sept. 7 -- have not gathered anything to justify new questioning, so it is not planned," said prosecutor general Luis Bilro Verao in a statement.

The prosecutor's office said police would continue the criminal investigation into Madeleine's disappearance and no lead would be neglected.

Madeleine's parents vowed earlier in the day to return to Portugal if asked, amid reports that Portuguese police were set to fly to Britain to question them over her disappearance.

Their official spokesman described the decision as "encouraging," though he noted that it would have to be examined "very carefully" by their Portuguese lawyers.

In their first interview since returning to Britain on Sept. 9, shortly after being named as formal suspects, Kate McCann insisted the couple had nothing to hide and could return to Portugal anyway.

The McCanns strongly deny any role in the disappearance of Madeleine, who was aged three when she vanished from a holiday apartment in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz on May 3.

"We will go back voluntarily when we wish. We aren't seeking to run," said Kate McCann, in the interview cited by British media from their home in Rothley, England.

"If police make a request to interview us we'll comply with it. But we've never said that we'd only go back if police ask us. There are lots of reasons -- spiritual, emotional and social -- to return to Portugal at any time, quite apart from any travel requirements of the investigation," she said.

She was speaking after reports that Portuguese detectives were on the point of leaving for Britain to put further questions to the McCanns, who have faced intense speculation that they could have mistakenly killed their daughter.

The London Evening Standard newspaper reported on Tuesday that three detectives were already in Britain, and were liaising with British police who would actually put questions to the McCanns on their behalf. Police declined to comment.

On Tuesday the McCanns sought to refocus public attention on finding their daughter, as their new press spokesman branded the accusations against them "ludicrous and nonsensical."

"The focus must now return to Madeleine and move away from the rampant, unfounded and inaccurate speculation of recent days. The focus must be the child at the center of this, Madeleine," said the spokesman.

The parents, both 39-year-old medical doctors, were with friends at a restaurant just meters away when they say their daughter disappeared.

In their new interview the McCanns said they were quite open with their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie when talking about their older sister.

"We talk about Madeleine to the twins all the time. It's not a hidden subject or anything like that," Kate McCann said.

"The only thing that will make us truly happy is that we find Madeleine or what happened to her," she said.
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