McCanns - Nemesis ?

Through cynicism , boredom, or mischief, the McCann's are now reaping the whirlwind of a disenchanted media. 100 days relentless and restless publicity in a tornado of endless travel, faultless make-up, carefully selected wardrobes, and even more carefully selected words .

From the Pope to the presposterous and dishonest Alberto Gonzalez, they have enlisted help, and received a million pounds as they have fed the sun -drenched press pack and paparazzi . Led skilfully, initially (for 4 unpaid weeks) by the senior Press Manager , Clarence Mitchell ,from No 10 Downing Street and the ever present family - and this includes the vocal relatives and their fellow travellers .

All this has now resulted in a rapid, nasty and brutal reversal in public sentiment and Police policy.

The Sunday Telegraph today repeats a story from the Portuguese newspaper, Sol, who allege that British sniffer dogs have picked up traces of the girl's corpse in the holiday apartment from where she disappeared on May 3. This, says the Telegraph means the McCanns face new distressing claims that their daughter may have been dead before they went to dinner on the evening of her disappearance.

An unnamed expert is quoted saying : "In order for the dogs to detect a body, this would have to stay in place where it died for a minimum of two hours." which they calculate means Madeleine died "some time between being collected from a creche at 6.30pm and when the couple left the flat for dinner at 8.30pm"

It also claimed that police sources believe Madeleine's body could have been hidden for two months before being moved.

Speculating about where the youngster's body might now be, an unnamed source said: "Perhaps dumped in the sea or buried."

Friends of the McCanns said the speculation was "ludicrous and utterly untrue". One friend said: "No one could seriously suggest that Kate or Gerry had anything to do with Madeleine's disappearance."

This speculation is also reported by This is London who also explain that the Mundo Real another Portuguese newspaper claimed yesterday that the couple may have moved a dead body five weeks later in their hired Renault Scenic car , hired five weeks after the disappearance, which they explained was being examined for , "traces of a corpse".

Could the Portuguese Police (the inheritors of the feared PIDE of Salazar) portrayed in a truly xenophobic fashion by the UK press as a bunch of stumbling, bumbling Inspector Cloiseau's be playing games ? Short of damning clues, possessors of unusable telephone traces, e- mails, could they be trying to flush out their quarry ?

Has the love affair with a pliant and supportive press come to an end? Have the Police, who in the UK have had remarkable success in using the media to pressurise liars, been playing a brutal, calculated and very public endgame ?

The results of the tests on what is evidently blood, found on the wall of Madeleine's room may now form the evidence to frame a deadly tale ... and they are due this week.

For all posts on this subject go here.

UPDATE Monday 13/8/07

Daily Telegraph reports today that the Jornal de Noticias reported that blood traces had also been found on the curtains of Mr and Mrs McCann's bedroom. This is also remarked on in an article in the Daily Mail. The Times reports that Robert Murat was / is to be dropped as the only official suspect .

UPDATE Tuesday 14/8/07

Daily Telegraph says the Mccann's hire car ws stripped down over 2 days by the police.

UPDATE Sunday 19th August 2007

The phrase "Could the Portuguese Police (the inheritors of the feared PIDE of Salazar)" used above has been queried ,with the distinction being made between the PIDE and the PJ. The PIDE officers did not disappear - nor their methods, both were inherited and subsumed into the new forces.

Remember that Lisbon was, during WWII the meeting ground for spies / agents from both the Allied forces and the Axis forces... there is a lengthy history of covert policing, with many, many connections. President Bush, Prime Minister Blair, President Aznar, and Prime Minister Barroso of Portugal (now EU President) met in the Azores on March 16th 2003 to declare (effectively) war on Iraq. " ....and a declarative statement on Iraq." said the White House press statement.... which of course re-inforces the tantalising question of what Clarence Mitchell was up to and why Gordon Brown found it necessary to talk to the Portuguese Police.

e.g Northern Ireland. MI5 now have swanky new £20Mn barracks and no doubt they will still be funding members of the republicans and the loyalists, whilst liasing with the Northern Ireland Police Force . Some of the senior members - Sir Ronnie Flanagan's cronies have advanced stages of very selective memory loss and have been retired but their ethos lives on.

q.v. the PIDE. and see here re MI5 / NI

To see all posts on this site on the Madeleine saga go here