British prosecutors have sent a
third international letter of
request to Portuguese authorities on
behalf of detectives investigating
the disappearance of Madeleine
McCann.
Scotland Yard stressed that the
document, sent on Friday, was a
routine part of their inquiry but
would not reveal what the letter
said.
The communications are used to ask
the Portuguese police to carry out
certain pieces of work on the
British force's behalf.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner
Martin
Hewitt said that so far no requests
to carry out interviews or arrests
had been made.
He said: "We sent a further detailed
letter of request which went out
from the CPS on Friday.
"This is part of an ongoing process.
"The way this investigation is
working at the moment is we are
using that process, letters of
request, and they are now going to
be going out routinely."
Detective Chief Inspector Andy
Redwood has travelled to Portugal
again this week for a routine
meeting with investigators there.
Mr Hewitt added: "Clearly the
investigative tempo is moving
forward as we're progressing the
investigation and the work that
we're asking the Portuguese to
undertake for us.
"We're carrying on our liaison at
all levels."
Madeleine, who was then nearly four,
disappeared from her family's
holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in
the Algarve on May 3 2007 as her
parents dined at a nearby restaurant
with friends.
British detectives launched a fresh
investigation into the youngster's
disappearance in July last year -
two years into a review of the case
- and made renewed appeals on
television in the UK, the
Netherlands and Germany.
After shelving their inquiry into
Madeleine's disappearance in 2008,
Portuguese authorities said last
October that a review had uncovered
enough new information to justify
reopening it.
