Madeleine: Portugal police say decision to make McCanns suspects was too 'hasty'

Kate and Gerry McCann were named as "arguidos" - or formal suspects - four months after their daughter vanished from their holiday flat in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz.

Alipio Ribeiro, national director of the Policia Judiciaria (PJ), has revealed he believes there "perhaps should have been another assessment" before this happened.

The PJ is leading the investigation into what happened to Madeleine on the night of May 3.

In an interview with Portugal's Radio Renascenca, to be broadcast on Sunday, Mr Ribeiro stressed he did not give his officers orders about who should be named an arguido.

But he said there was a "certain hastiness" in making the McCanns suspects.

The couple's spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, today welcomed the senior officer's comments and called for them to be formally cleared.

He said: "Now that the national director of the Policia Judiciaria apparently accepts that they should not have been made arguido, it follows that there is no case for Kate and Gerry to answer.

"As I have consistently said, Kate and Gerry are entirely innocent of any involvement in the disappearance of Madeleine.

"Now, in the light of Mr Ribeiro's remarks, we urge the Portuguese judicial authorities to act humanely by removing their arguido status as swiftly as possible.

"Not only does it continue to damage their reputation in the eyes of the world, it is also directly hampering the search for Madeleine, as many people who may have vital information have possibly not been coming forward because they have wrongly suspected the McCanns.

"If the Portuguese police, under Mr Ribeiro, now do the only proper thing by eliminating Kate and Gerry from their inquiry, they and our own investigators can work together rapidly and effectively to find Madeleine and to bring those responsible for her abduction to justice."

Mr Ribeiro has previously expressed caution about the case.

On September 10 - just three days after Mr and Mrs McCann were named suspects - he suggested that forensic tests had not been conclusive.

The head of the PJ told Portuguese state broadcaster RTP then: "We can't say with certainty whether it was the blood of person 'A' or person 'B'.

"They help guide us in our investigation but not with the mathematical precision some people are saying."