AMERICA’S top chat show hosts are locked in a bidding war for an exclusive interview with the parents of Madeleine McCann.

Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Walters have each pledged £1million in an attempt to get them in front of the TV cameras, it emerged yesterday.

And the McCanns, who remain suspects in their four-year-old daughter’s disappearance, are considering taking the cash from one of the rivals to top up a fund which was set up to help find her.

The Find Madeleine Appeal, which once stood at £1.2million through donations from the public, is dwindling at an alarming rate and is said to have plunged to less than £400,000. Fears are growing the money could run out within weeks because of vast spending on private detectives and advertising.

The couple’s spokesman Clarence Mitchell confirmed that they were  “talking” to representatives of both chat show giants.

But he insisted money would not be the deciding factor. The couple would go for the show that best helped their search for Madeleine.

The disclosure that they are planning a big-money TV appearance comes just two weeks after they were criticised for considering selling movie and book rights to their story.

Award-winning Oprah, 53, a billionaire, bills herself as “America’s best friend” and “one of the most influential women in the world”.

Her 1993 interview with troubled pop star Michael Jackson pulled in 100 million viewers.

Rival Barbara, Walters, 78 – who prides herself on her “personality and scoops” – claims she has interviewed more statesmen and stars than any other journalist in history.

Her 1999 grilling of Monica Lewinsky about her fling with former US president Bill Clinton attracted 74 million viewers.

Mr Mitchell said: “We’ve been approached by representatives for both Oprah and Barbara. They want an exclusive interview with Kate and Gerry. We are discussing it but it doesn’t mean we are doing it. Nothing has been agreed.”

A family source said the McCanns had several discussions with Oprah’s spokesman but “more conversations” with Barbara’s.

The source added: “Barbara is like royalty over there and has done every major interview with the presidents and the biggest stars.

“Her people said, ‘We have the biggest show in the States with an audience of 15 million from East to West’.”

But Mr Mitchell stressed: “We are not in the market for selling Kate and Gerry’s story to the highest bidder. And we are not impressed by big names. We talk to media from all over the world.”

Mr Mitchell said the couple would only consider a TV interview or documentary film if it was “constructive and helpful” in the search for Madeleine or led to “a long-term change” in procedures to help find missing children.

Only then would contributions or donations to a special fund be welcome, he added.

The McCanns say they have been impressed by a system in America called Amber Alert which triggers an emergency system nationwide when a child is reported missing. They want to campaign for a similar system to be set up in Europe.

But both chat show hosts may be disappointed about how much information they can glean from the McCanns.

Under Portuguese law the couple’s status as suspects bans them from talking publicly about the investigation.

Portuguese police have faced fierce criticism over the handling of the case and their actions in the crucial early hours after Madeleine disappeared from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on May 3 last year.

Monday January 14,2008
By Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

KATE and Gerry McCann fear Portuguese police are stalling the Madeleine investigation after failing to find evidence against them.

The couple – both official suspects – are furious that the police case has become mired in a legal muddle while no efforts are being made to find Madeleine.

They believe the police are stringing things out in the hope of uncovering a fact to back up their theory that the couple were involved in Madeleine’s disappearance.

“Kate and Gerry are going through agony and think it’s high time the police put up or shut up,” said a close family friend. “Either charge them or clear them so that no more time is lost in getting back to looking for a little girl missing for more than eight months.”

The McCanns say investigators have stifled progress by wrapping the case in red tape. To add to their fears, Portugal’s Attorney General Fernando Pinto Monteiro wrote to the country’s prosecutors recently telling them to take as much time as they need to investigate cases such as Madeleine’s in secret.

His instruction came despite the recent introduction of a law which orders investigators to reveal their evidence to suspects within eight months of the first official suspect being named.

The secrecy laws surrounding the Madeleine case expire today, eight months after the first suspect, expat Robert Murat, was named.

The McCanns had hoped to see the evidence against them and begin clearing their names but state prosecutor Jose Magalhaes e Menezes has applied for a three-month extension, stating that the case is “exceptionally complicated”.

THE key witness in the missing Madeleine McCann case was in hiding last night after fleeing Portugal.

Police have sworn the waiter to secrecy over his vital testimony and know where he is.

But friends say he is terrified his identity is about to be revealed and that he will come under pressure from rival factions in the case.

He is scared of British and Portuguese government influence in the probe. Friends claim he is also wary of the team of private eyes hired by Kate and Gerry McCann to help find their daughter.

The mother of expat British estate agent Robert Murat – the only other suspect in the case – has accused investigators of bribing witnesses into changing their stories.

The tapas bar waiter – described by police as their “trump card” – has given what detectives believe is the most reliable account of what happened the night the four-year-old vanished. They have questioned him three times, most recently last week.

Officers say his story can prove Madeleine’s parents are lying over her disappearance. Many of the 100 questions officers want to ask the McCanns and their holiday friends – the so-called Tapas Nine – are thought to be based on his information. But, according to former colleagues at the Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz, the knowledge he is playing such a vital role in the case that has gripped the world has horrified him.

One said: “He does not want to be involved in any of this. He was just a restaurant worker. His only problem was remembering food orders. He’s terrified.”

The waiter was the only resort worker to see Kate, 39, raise the alarm after apparently discovering her daughter missing just after 10pm on May 3. She insisted she ran into the tapas bar where her husband Gerry, 39, and their friends were eating and screamed: “Madeleine’s gone. Madeleine’s gone.”

But the waiter is understood to have told police Kate raised the alarm from the apartment balcony  75 yards away, screaming: “They’ve taken her. They’ve taken her.’’

Detectives want to know why she assumed so quickly her daughter had been abducted – and not simply wandered off to look for her parents.

Police value the waiter’s account because they cannot understand why – if Kate thought Madeleine had been snatched while unattended – she would then leave her twins Sean and Amelie in the apartment to run back to the tapas bar.

DETECTIVES have carried out fresh searches at the church where Kate and Gerry McCann prayed for their missing daughter, it emerged yesterday.

The Roman Catholic priest who offered comfort to the distraught parents and gave the couple their own set of keys to the chapel has also been reinterviewed by investigators.

Portuguese police carried out a detailed search at Our Lady Of Light church in Praia da Luz and the surrounding area, including the old cemetery.

The operation was carried out “informally and with maximum discretion” by agents from the Policia Judiciaria as they followed up leads into possible hiding places for Madeleine’s body.

Officers “spent the day” with Father Jose Manuel Pacheco, questioning him for several hours and also visiting him at home.

Detectives want to understand the precise nature of the relationship between the McCanns and Father Jose and what involvement the 16th century church itself played during the five months the couple were in the Algarve.

The priest became a close friend and confidante of the McCanns after Madeleine’s disappearance on May 3.

The couple, who are devoted Catholics, attended Mass most Sundays and also participated in several candle-lit vigils at the tiny church.

Father Jose even gave the couple, from Rothley, Leics, their own set of keys so they could pray in private whenever they wished.

He has since been reprimanded by the church authorities for allowing himself to get so close to the couple.

The Bishop of the Algarve, Dom Manuel Quintas, was particularly critical of his decision to give church keys to the McCanns.

Father Jose has previously said he felt “deceived” in connection with the investigation but has never clarified what he meant by this statement.

A friend of Father Jose yesterday said the priest had changed since the Madeleine affair, which had deeply affected him. He has moved out of the clerical house he used to share with other priests in the parish and now lives with his elderly parents.

He has also almost completely stopped going out. The friend said: “Whenever anybody talks about Madeleine he steers the talk on to other subjects. He has stopped going to all the places he used to go, especially the coffee shops.

“There are two completely different Pachecos, the one before the McCanns and the one after.”

The latest searches took place two weeks ago on the orders of Paulo Rebelo, Portugal’s second most senior policeman, who took over the investigation last month.

He has re-examined the entire case and even ordered a re-enactment of the night Madeleine went missing from the family’s holiday apartment.

Detectives visited Father Jose at his parents’ home in Odiaxere, about 10 miles from Praia da Luz and close to the Barragem da Bravura lake which detectives searched last month for the body of the missing four-year-old girl.

Officers then followed the priest to the church in a separate car in order to be discreet and avoid unwanted attention.

Last night it was unclear whether Father Jose had been asked to make a formal statement as a witness in the case or if officers had searched his home.

It is possible they asked him if he had ever taken confession from either of the McCanns, although Father Jose has previously said he would never reveal anything he had been told during confession.

Police sources have said in the past that they believe Madeleine to be dead and “either on the bottom of the ocean or in the church”. Some officers believe that the toddler died after an accident in the holiday apartment and that her body was disposed of more than three weeks later.

It has been suggested the body was hidden in the church or its grounds and then taken away in the boot of the McCanns’ Renault Scenic hire car.

However, after more than 200 days since Madeleine’s disappearance, Portuguese police insist that all avenues of inquiry remain open.

Portuguese police believe Gerry and Kate McCann are using friends to hide their role in killing Madeleine.

The Daily Express can reveal that their seven holiday friends may now be named as suspects as police believe they are hiding the truth about Madeleine’s death.

The dramatic move comes as it was reported that former chief suspect Robert Murat is to be told he will not face charges over the four-year-old’s disappearance. Ruling him out of the four-month investigation will leave Kate and Gerry McCann as the sole suspects. Last night police sources said the decision could have a devastating impact on the McCanns’ defence.

In an astonishing twist, British expat Murat could be used as a key prosecution witness against the McCanns.

Almost the entire police case against Murat was built on evidence from the couple’s holiday friends. Investigators believe the McCanns “cooked up a story” that Madeleine had been kidnapped to throw them off the trail and enlisted members of their party to provide them with an alibi. They also believe the group tried to turn the focus of the investigation towards Murat.

Yesterday it was revealed that police are questioning new witnesses who cast doubts over the evidence of members of the holiday group.

The McCanns and their friends told how they took turns to check on their children every 30 minutes as they ate at a tapas restaurant on May 3, the night Madeleine vanished.

But one Portuguese newspaper reported that employees at the restaurant insisted that only Dr Russell O’Brien, 36, and hospital consultant Matthew Oldfield, 37, left the dinner table that evening.

Another witness has come forward to refute the testimony of a third friend Jane Tanner, 36, who told police she saw a man carrying a child rushing from the Ocean Club complex at around 9.15pm on May 3. Yesterday it was reported in Portugal that a new witness, an unnamed Irishman, told police he was in the same spot as Miss Tanner at the same time and saw no one.

He is the second independent witness to dispute her story and police sources said they viewed Miss Tanner’s evidence as “unreliable” because of inconsistencies.

Officers are concerned that she apparently changed her version of the sighting.

She originally claimed she saw the suspect rushing towards the Baptista supermarket in Praia da Luz. She told police the child was wrapped in a blanket.

A second independent witness reported seeing a similar man with a child in a blanket near the town’s church heading towards the beach. The route he took matches the alleged trail of death discovered by British sniffer dogs who detected the scent of a corpse.

But Miss Tanner has now told detectives that the man was heading in a different direction – towards Murat’s home.
Police regard her account as one of a series given by the McCanns and their friends to convince them that Madeleine had been kidnapped.

Officers believe former hospital anaesthetist Kate, 39, killed her daughter by accidentally giving her an overdose of sleeping pills. They are working on the theory that consultant cardiologist Gerry, also 39, helped to dispose of Madeleine’s body.

Police are awaiting results of toxicology tests carried out on bodily fluids with an 88 per cent match to Madeleine’s DNA found in the boot of a hire car the couple rented 25 days after she went missing.

Dr O’Brien, along with Mr Oldfield’s wife Rachael, 36, and another friend Dr Fiona Payne, 34, said they saw Murat near the McCanns’ apartment on May 3 and their claim appeared to shatter Murat’s alibi.

Detectives interrogated the McCanns at police headquarters in Portimao 17 days ago over the discrepancies. The couple were told separately later that day they were being named as suspects or arguidos.

Last night another member of the McCanns’ holiday party was reported to have stepped into the mystery. The move came after it was revealed that police in Portugal were focusing their investigation on a “lost seven hours” on the day Madeleine disappeared.

Now Dr Payne’s husband – medical researcher David, 41 – has claimed he saw Madeleine being put to bed when he visited the McCann flat at 7pm.

Before his new testimony, police sources admitted they could not confirm the whereabouts of Kate and Madeleine  after 1.29pm that day.

Kate’s movements were said to be unaccounted for until she sat down to have dinner with Gerry and their friends at around 8.40pm. But the McCanns believe Mr Payne’s testimony will be crucial in proving their innocence.

That would leave just an hour and a half in which they were supposed to have killed their daughter and disposed of her body.

But last night a source in Portugal said police were viewing alibis provided by the McCanns’ friends with suspicion. They are convinced that some or all of them may have known what happened to Madeleine and may have helped to cover up her death.

The source said police had not ruled out the possibility of naming them all as suspects – and they could face being charged as accessories.

The source said: “It has long been considered a number of people may have been involved in this unfortunate case.”
In Portugal yesterday it was revealed that detectives have seized a British police manual from the McCanns.

Officers believe the book could be used as a key piece of evidence in building a case against them.

A Portuguese police source said: “It is certainly not the sort of reading material you would expect a couple to take on a relaxing family holiday.”

MADELEINE McCann was not seen by anyone except her parents for seven hours in the time leading up to her disappearance, it was sensationally claimed yesterday.

Baffled detectives in Portugal are focusing their inquiry on the lost hours and believe the period holds the key to the investigation. Police sources revealed that despite exhaustive inquiries they cannot confirm the whereabouts of part-time GP Kate, 39, and her daughter after 1.29pm on May 3. The source said Kate’s movements were unaccounted for until she sat down to have dinner with friends at a tapas restaurant within their holiday complex at around 8.40pm.

Police are probing a series of alleged inconsistencies in the statements of Kate and husband Gerry – who have been named as official suspects – and their holiday friends. Officers believe Kate killed her daughter by accidentally giving her an overdose of sleeping pills.

They are working on the theory that consultant cardiologist Gerry, also 39, helped to cover up the crime and dispose of Madeleine’s body. They believe the McCanns “cooked up a story” that Madeleine had been kidnapped to throw them off the scent.

The last photograph of Madeleine was said to have been taken by Kate at 2.29pm on May 3. The image showed Madeleine – wearing a sun hat and with beads in her hair – laughing as she dangled her feet in the swimming pool at the Ocean Club resort where the family were staying. But the Daily Express can reveal the timing device on the camera showed the picture had been taken at 1.29pm.

There was no time difference between Portugal and Britain and the family explained the discrepancy by insisting the settings on the camera were wrong. But one expert explained that the shadows in the photograph showed it must have been taken earlier than the family had claimed.

The mystery deepened yesterday  after the couple dismissed claims they had taken their children to a local restaurant at 5pm that day. Other members of their holiday group took their children for supper at the Paraiso Restaurant on the beach in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz.

Staff there were certain they saw the couple there along with Madeleine and their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie. Owner Miguel Matias handed over CCTV footage to police which they believed would prove the family had been there. The evidence would have helped support Kate and Gerry’s alibi that they were not involved in Madeleine’s death.

But yesterday a source close to the family said: “They weren’t there. They didn’t go to the restaurant that day. They did not go there at all until after she had vanished.”

Police yesterday confirmed they had been handed the footage but refused to reveal the content. Sources in Portugal insist the only witness to Kate’s movements that afternoon was her husband.
Yesterday it was claimed that statements given to the police by the McCanns about their movements also differed from those of their seven friends.

Portuguese newspaper 24 Hours reported that one of the McCanns’ friends had told police the party had not seen Madeleine all afternoon. Former British detective Mark Williams-Thomas, who worked on the Sarah Payne murder inquiry, said: “The last person to see Madeleine is absolutely vital to this investigation.

“If the police are saying the last picture of Madeleine is the last time she was seen, then they have to establish what went on in the hours in between and when she was reported missing.”

Police sources in Portugal claimed that originally Kate told them she was at the pool all afternoon. Gerry said he had taken part in a tennis event at the Ocean Club complex with the other men in the group – all doctors who had first met while working in Leicester. One source added: “Kate said she was at the poolside all afternoon but we are not satisfied with this. Until now we have no witnesses to confirm that. This is the main focus of our investigation at the moment.

“Where was Kate between the time she took the picture of Madeleine and the time she went to dinner with her husband in the tapas bar? We now believe Madeleine could have gone missing during this period. We are very doubtful that Madeleine disappeared when the McCanns were at dinner.”

As the focus of the inquiry shifted, a source close to the McCanns issued an apparently new version of events of what happened the afternoon Madeleine disappeared. The source insisted the couple told police Madeleine had spent time during the afternoon at the Ocean Club resort’s creche.

The source said: “Kate was never alone with Madeleine that afternoon. After the photograph was taken at the swimming pool Madeleine went to the kids club. There are records for that, written records, and witnesses.

“Madeleine was there while Kate and Gerry played tennis with the club professional and other witnesses.’’

Detectives in Portugal are said to have “serious concerns” over other crucial contradictions in the McCanns’ statements. When Madeleine disappeared, friends told how Kate was certain she had been abducted after finding the patio doors had been opened and the shutters tampered with.

But now a member of their group has revealed the couple had not locked the patio door when they left Madeleine and the twins.

The friend said that when Kate discovered Madeleine missing at 10pm she ran back to the restaurant shouting: “Madeleine’s gone, Madeleine’s gone.” It is dramatically different from the account said to have been given to Portuguese police. They were told Kate had said: “They’ve taken her, they’ve taken her.”

Detectives in Portugal viewed this as suspicious, as Kate had apparently  already ruled out the possibility that her daughter had wandered off. They are treating it as possible evidence that she was already engaged in a cover-up.

The revelations come as members of the couple’s holiday group appeared  to be once again shifting the focus on to Robert Murat, 33 – the only other official suspect in the case. One member of the group, Jane Tanner, 36, told police she saw a man carrying a child wrapped in a blanket near the Ocean Club apartment complex on the night Madeleine disappeared. Miss Tanner said she saw the suspect rushing downhill towards the Baptista supermarket.

But she has now told police the man was heading in a completely different direction – towards the home of Murat.

Murat was also placed in the frame by three other members of the McCanns’ party. Rachael Oldfield, 36, Dr Russell O’Brien, 36, and Dr Fiona Payne, 34, claim they saw Murat near the McCanns’ apartment on the night Madeleine vanished – evidence which apparently shattered Murat’s alibi that he spent the evening at home with his mother before having an early night.

KATE McCann’s diary could hold the critical clue to her daughter’s disappearance, Portuguese police revealed yesterday.

Detectives believe that desperate entries made by Madeleine’s mother will help unlock the secret of what happened to the four-year-old.

As well as Kate’s diary, police have also applied for a court order to seize Gerry McCann’s laptop.

Investigators believe that emails sent from the cardiologist’s distinctive white computer will provide crucial evidence in the case against Madeleine’s parents.

But in a signal that the McCanns are prepared to fight to prove their innocence, they issued a challenge to Portuguese detectives yesterday, saying: “Find the body and prove we killed her.”

They want the computer and lots of other objects including Kate’s diary

Portugal’s public prosecutor, Jose Cunha de Magalhaes e Meneses, has applied to a judge for an emergency order to seize several items – including the laptop and diary – within 24 hours. </[>

It is believed the judge, Pedro Miguel dos Anjos Frias, approved the order last night.

Papers are expected to be sent to the UK later today asking Leicestershire Police to seize the items so that Portuguese detectives can travel to England to examine them.

A police source said: “The police want to know what kind of emails Gerry exchanged with certain people.

“It seems to be more about Gerry than Kate, because they appear to believe Gerry controlled Kate.

“They want the computer and lots of other objects including Kate’s diary and letters from family and friends.”

However, he said police were not looking to seize Madeleine’s Cuddle Cat, as has been reported. Kate has regularly been seen clutching the toy since her daughter went missing on May 3.

Gerry’s laptop has been his constant companion since starting the campaign to publicise his daughter’s disappearance. He uses it to write a weblog detailing daily developments in the search. Kate, 39, has also regularly been seen writing in her black exercise book-type diary.

Sources close to the investigation say police believe both items will reveal Kate’s allegedly volatile state of mind in the days immediately after Madeleine’s disappearance 133 days ago.

Police are convinced the part-time GP was in some way linked to Madeleine’s accidental death and that she and Gerry, 39, then disposed of the body.

A mass of Madeleine’s hair and samples of bodily fluids have been found in the boot of the car that the couple hired 25 days after Madeleine disappeared.

Now police believe their case can be strengthened further by examining emails and other documents on the laptop.

In particular, they are thought to be keen to see any email exchanges Gerry had with the friends he and Kate were dining with on the night Madeleine vanished. The couple both vehemently deny any involvement in their daughter’s disappearance.

They fear they are being framed by police and that evidence against them is being planted. If the prosecutor seeks to bring charges or impose stricter bail conditions on the McCanns, the judge has 10 days to decide whether to agree to the request.

It could, however, take weeks to go through the 4,000-page dossier of evidence against the couple. On Tuesday the prosecutor ordered the 10 huge police files on the case to go before the criminal instructional judge.

A friend of the McCanns said the family had been advised that the prosecutor was probably either seeking further guidance from the judge or seeking to carry out more searches.

Referring to the decision to pass files to the judge, the family friend said: “It’s hardly surprising for the prosecutor to want to push a hot potato upwards. “If you were in their shoes you would want to get those papers away as quickly as possible.

“Our understanding is there’s no filtering process whatsoever – everything is in there. The judge has had the kitchen sink thrown at him.”

The McCanns were declared “arguidos”, or formal suspects, in the case during police questioning in Portimao last Friday. Under existing restrictions the couple are only required to give police their address and notify officers if they are away from home for more than five days.

This is why the McCanns were able to return home to Rothley on Sunday with their two-year-old twins, Sean and Amelie. Gerry’s sister, Philomena, said: “If they bring charges against Kate and Gerry, that will give them a chance to clear their name. It will give us a chance to end all this speculation.”

DAVID Miliband was under fire yesterday for turning his back on ­the parents of missing Madeleine McCann.

The new Foreign Secretary has failed to make any contact with the family.

His predecessor, Margaret Beckett, made regular calls offering support to the McCanns. Mr Miliband could face a carpeting for the snub from Prime Minister Gordon Brown who, as Chancellor, contacted the McCanns to promise to help “in any way he could”.

It is 64 days since four-year-old Madeleine was snatched from her bed as she slept in a holiday flat  rented by the family in Praia da Luz on Portugal’s Algarve.

But the MP for South Shields – at 41 the youngest Foreign Secretary since David Owen was appointed in 1977 at the age of 38 – has so far failed to signal any interest in the case.

A source close to Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry, said last night: “It’s true, there haven’t been any phone calls at all from David Miliband, which has been a surprise to be honest.

“Margaret Beckett went out of her way to get in touch, even breaking off from important talks in Washington, to telephone Kate and Gerry and let them know she could count on her help.

“Even Gordon Brown has Gerry’s mobile number and has called in the past,” said the source. “It gave the family a great boost to know that Government at the highest level cared about Madeleine.

“In the early days after Madeleine was snatched, the Foreign Office provided a lot of vital help to the family, and even now the consulate on the Algarve keeps in touch.”

But, so far, the new Foreign Secretary has been unable to find time to make contact. The source said: “If I were Kate and Gerry, I would have expected something but there hasn’t been anything.”

The source said GP Kate, 38, and cardiac consultant Gerry, 39, would never complain about a lack of support, preferring to concentrate on their campaign to find their daughter.

“They haven’t got any complaint with the highest level of Government, in fact they are hugely grateful for what they have already received from senior politicians,” said the source.

“They would never complain or say anything about it, they are  just not those kind of people. Their only focus is on doing everything they possibly can to get Madeleine back.”

The parents, who have moved to a secret address on the Algarve to give two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie more privacy, have welcomed the release earlier this week of BBC journalist Alan Johnston after 114 days in captivity.

The family, from Rothley in Leicestershire, said his release  had lifted their spirits while they endure an agonising wait for news of their daughter.

Mr McCann said yesterday: “It was heartening for Kate and I to learn of the release of Alan Johnston after almost four months in captivity.

“Although the circumstances of his kidnapping are very different to Madeleine’s, it still lifted us to see him being freed knowing he will be reunited with his family shortly.

“We also agree with the commentators who have stated his family have acted with tremendous dignity throughout,  and Alan himself appeared incredibly resilient and composed following his release. Our best wishes go to Alan and his family.”

Friday July 6, 2007

By Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

DAVID Miliband was under fire yesterday for turning his back on the parents of missing Madeleine McCann.

The new Foreign Secretary has failed to make any contact with the family.

His predecessor, Margaret Beckett, made regular calls offering support to the McCanns. Mr Miliband could face a carpeting for the snub from Prime Minister Gordon Brown who, as Chancellor, contacted the McCanns to promise to help “in any way he could”.

It is 64 days since four-year-old Madeleine was snatched from her bed as she slept in a holiday flat rented by the family in Praia da Luz on Portugal’s Algarve.

But the MP for South Shields – at 41 the youngest Foreign Secretary since David Owen was appointed in 1977 at the age of 38 – has so far failed to signal any interest in the case.

A source close to Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry, said last night: “It’s true, there haven’t been any phone calls at all from David Miliband, which has been a surprise to be honest.

“Margaret Beckett went out of her way to get in touch, even breaking off from important talks in Washington, to telephone Kate and Gerry and let them know she could count on her help.

“Even Gordon Brown has Gerry’s mobile number and has called in the past,” said the source. “It gave the family a great boost to know that Government at the highest level cared about Madeleine.

“In the early days after Madeleine was snatched, the Foreign Office provided a lot of vital help to the family, and even now the consulate on the Algarve keeps in touch.”

But, so far, the new Foreign Secretary has been unable to find time to make contact. The source said: “If I were Kate and Gerry, I would have expected something but there hasn’t been anything.”

The source said GP Kate, 38, and cardiac consultant Gerry, 39, would never complain about a lack of support, preferring to concentrate on their campaign to find their daughter.

“They haven’t got any complaint with the highest level of Government, in fact they are hugely grateful for what they have already received from senior politicians,” said the source.

“They would never complain or say anything about it, they are just not those kind of people. Their only focus is on doing everything they possibly can to get Madeleine back.”

The parents, who have moved to a secret address on the Algarve to give two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie more privacy, have welcomed the release earlier this week of BBC journalist Alan Johnston after 114 days in captivity.

The family, from Rothley in Leicestershire, said his release had lifted their spirits while they endure an agonising wait for news of their daughter.

Mr McCann said yesterday: “It was heartening for Kate and I to learn of the release of Alan Johnston after almost four months in captivity.

“Although the circumstances of his kidnapping are very different to Madeleine’s, it still lifted us to see him being freed knowing he will be reunited with his family shortly.

“We also agree with the commentators who have stated his family have acted with tremendous dignity throughout, and Alan himself appeared incredibly resilient and composed following his release. Our best wishes go to Alan and his family.”

By Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

THE mother of missing Madeleine McCann pleaded with the toddler’s kidnapper yesterday: “It’s not too late, please give her back.”

GP Kate McCann, 38, made the TV appeal for mercy exactly two months after her four-year-old daughter was snatched as she slept in a holiday apartment in Portugal.

Her husband Gerry, 39, revealed the strain they had endured since the kidnap in Praia da Luz on May 3.

“Every day is hard,” said the consultant cardiologist. “Every day is very, very difficult.

“We have a mix of very positive days, when we have done things and achieved things or big events with the campaign, but we are aware that these things are secondary.

“The only important thing is getting Madeleine back and we hope that what we are doing increases the chances of that.”

The couple said they had sought out experts to help their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie deal with Madeleine’s absence.

Gerry McCann added: “We had some concerns about how to tell them, and it’s a pretty private matter how we went about it, but I can tell you that they are fine at the minute.”

The couple, pictured right, who earlier this week moved the family to a private villa away from the Ocean Club complex where Madeleine was snatched, said they worked hard to make life as normal as possible despite their ordeal.

Clutching Madeleine’s favourite Cuddle Cat toy, Mrs McCann, from Rothley, Leicestershire, said: “It’s pretty much like most family life, except during the day we have all the other things we need to do to campaign for Madeleine’s return.”

Her husband said: “Our day starts off pretty normal, like most families with kids we get them ready and take them to nursery, which allows us to do some work, and in the evenings it’s pretty much back to family life.” Mrs McCann said the family was determined to remain on the Algarve, adding that it comforted them to feel they may be near Madeleine.

Mr McCann added: “We can’t emphasise enough that she was taken from here so there is still a high probability that she is in this region or close to it.”

The couple said messages from wellwishers “have been a great comfort and a boost”.