Murat 'sat in on police interviews'

Detectives let Mr Murat act as a translator during interviews with friends of Kate and Gerry McCann who were dining with the couple on the night their daughter disappeared, according to newspaper reports.

Days later the 33-year-old was named as an arguido, or official suspect.

The Daily Mirror said Mr Murat was allegedly present during the interviews of Rachael Oldfield and Dianne Webster.

However, a source close to the McCanns said it was understood that although Mr Murat did attend Ms Webster's questioning, he was not present when Mrs Oldfield was with police.

The McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "We can't comment on anything that's contained within the police file and clearly records of interviews and who attended them make up part of that file.

"Any serious questions to be answered about the way the original interviews were conducted or who attended them will be central to our own private investigation, and the detectives who have been employed on our behalf will be looking into that."

Portuguese police have questioned a crucial witness for the third time, according to the Daily Express.

A waiter at the tapas restaurant is said to have been the first person to see Kate McCann when she raised the alarm after discovering her daughter had gone missing from their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on the Algarve on May 3.

Mr Mitchell said: "Whatever any witness may claim Kate to have done in the immediate aftermath of discovering Madeleine was gone, she did not come out saying, 'They've taken her, they've taken her.' Any other recollection from any other person about the immediate aftermath is a mistake."