McCanns remain cautious

LONDON – The parents of missing British toddler Madeleine McCann remain cautious about a photo of a blonde girl snapped in Morocco, wary of an ’emotional rollercoaster’, their spokesperson said yesterday.

The photo, the first such image to surface, shows a light-skinned, small girl being carried on the back of an elderly Moroccan woman, and was taken just over three weeks ago in northern Morocco by a Spanish tourist. “Clearly, this is the first time we have an image like this.On an initial glance at it, it appears to look like Madeleine, about the right age and of European appearance,” said spokesperson Clarence Mitchell.But he added: “There have been numerous sightings, not just in Morocco but in other countries.As a result, I have to urge caution at this stage.”Kate and Gerry McCann – both named by Portuguese police as formal suspects in their daughter’s disappearance – are waiting for authorities to analyse the photo, reportedly using face-recognition technology, before making any further comment, he said.”Kate and Gerry know all too well, through bitter experience, that all of the sightings up to now have come to nothing, unfortunately.”You can imagine the sort of emotional rollercoaster that causes them each time this sort of information comes in,” he told BBC television.”They simply do not wish to discuss it beyond their immediate circle.”Clara Torres of the central Spanish city of Albacete said she took the photo on the morning of August 31 in the town of Zinat on the road between Chaouen to Tetuan while on a holiday in Morocco with her family.”The similarity (to Madeleine) raises shivers,” she told Spanish radio station COPE.Madeleine went missing from her family’s holiday apartment in the Portuguese resort town of Praia Da Luz on May 3, and her parents have been spearheading a global campaign to find her.Nampa-AFP”Clearly, this is the first time we have an image like this.On an initial glance at it, it appears to look like Madeleine, about the right age and of European appearance,” said spokesperson Clarence Mitchell.But he added: “There have been numerous sightings, not just in Morocco but in other countries.As a result, I have to urge caution at this stage.”Kate and Gerry McCann – both named by Portuguese police as formal suspects in their daughter’s disappearance – are waiting for authorities to analyse the photo, reportedly using face-recognition technology, before making any further comment, he said.”Kate and Gerry know all too well, through bitter experience, that all of the sightings up to now have come to nothing, unfortunately.”You can imagine the sort of emotional rollercoaster that causes them each time this sort of information comes in,” he told BBC television.”They simply do not wish to discuss it beyond their immediate circle.”Clara Torres of the central Spanish city of Albacete said she took the photo on the morning of August 31 in the town of Zinat on the road between Chaouen to Tetuan while on a holiday in Morocco with her family.”The similarity (to Madeleine) raises shivers,” she told Spanish radio station COPE.Madeleine went missing from her family’s holiday apartment in the Portuguese resort town of Praia Da Luz on May 3, and her parents have been spearheading a global campaign to find her.Nampa-AFP