Sawt Falasteen - Portuguese police start new search in Madeleine McCann case

Madeleine went missing aged three from an apartment at the coastal resort of Praia da Luz in southern Portugal, sparking an international campaign to find her and unprecedented media coverage.

Several police vehicles were on Tuesday seen driving down a dirt road guarded by officers, AFP journalists at the scene said.

The last searches in the Portuguese investigation were conducted in May 2023, near a lake.

The new searches are expected to continue until Friday and are being conducted at the request of German authorities investigating Christian Brueckner, a convicted rapist who is suspected of having killed Madeleine.

"All the evidence seized by the police will, with the prior authorisation of the national public prosecutor's office, be handed over to the agents of the German federal criminal police service," a police source said.

At the time of Madeleine's disappearance, Brueckner was living near the McCann's apartment in the southern Algarve region.

A mobile phone registered in his name was traced close to their accommodation on the night she went missing.

- Determined -

Brueckner is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for the rape in 2005 of a 72-year-old American woman in Praia da Luz. His sentence is due to end in September.

He was acquitted in October 2024 in Germany at trial for two sexual assaults and three rapes committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.

The German authorities in 2020 said they were convinced of Brueckner's involvement in Madeleine's disappearance, which gained worldwide publicity and has seen several false leads.

He has not been charged in connection with the McCann case.

Brueckner, who according to German media had a string of previous convictions, including for sexual offences, assault and theft, worked as an odd-job man during his 10 years in the Algarve but also burgled hotel rooms and holiday apartments.

At the time of Madeleine's disappearance he was living in a camper van.

A former neighbour in Portugal told Sky News television in 2020 that he was "always a bit angry, driving fast up and down the lane, and then one day, around 2006, he just disappeared without a word".

He returned to Germany in 2007 -- the year Madeleine disappeared -- settling in Hanover, but still spent time in Portugal.

On the 18th anniversary of their daughter's disappearance on May 3 this year, Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann said they were still determined to find out what happened.

"The years appear to be passing even more quickly and whilst we have no significant news to share, our determination to 'leave no stone unturned' is unwavering," they wrote on the findmadeleine.com website.

"We will do our utmost to achieve this."

M.Qasim--SF-PST