THE PARENTS of Madeleine McCann are planning an international day of events and appeals featuring world leaders, pop stars and well known athletes.

Gerry and Kate McCann, whose four-year-old daughter vanished from their holiday apartment on Portugal’s Algarve coast a month ago, want to keep her disappearance in the public eye with a “Madeleine Day”.

They plan to ask Sir Elton John, David Beckham and former US president Bill Clinton to help. They have approached JK Rowling about distributing bookmarks featuring a picture of Madeleine with her next Harry Potter book.

The couple are determined to keep Madeleine’s image alive as the police investigation struggles to find leads; detectives are even checking out the theories of self-acclaimed clairvoyants.

The McCanns unveiled their long-term strategy in an interview with The Sunday Times in which they compared losing their daughter to being “diagnosed with cancer”. Both are convinced Madeleine is still alive and will be found but admit it could be months before a breakthrough.

Next week the McCanns, after completing a series of appeals in European cities, travel to Morocco, where there have been sightings of a girl matching Madeleine’s description. They hope to enlist support for Madeleine Day from athletes such as the Moroccan Olympic gold medallist distance runner Hicham El Guerrouj.

The McCanns admit that in their darkest moments they have considered the possibility their daughter has been killed. But they cling to the hope that she has been taken by someone desperate for a child of their own rather than by a predatory paedophile.

“Everybody’s considered it [that Madeleine is dead],” said Kate, 38, a locum GP. “I think we know there are bad people out there but there are also a lot of sad people, and we don’t know what’s happened here. Obviously we hope it’s the latter.”

Gerry, a consultant cardiologist, added: “You can imagine different people wanting children for different reasons. Some of those reasons are much more sinister than others, but we really try not to think about that.

“If we knew who had her, and they had a track record, then you would say, ‘Okay, the chances are diminishing.’ But even in that situation there are cases when someone comes out well at the end.

“I do a lot of scientific work and I’m very aware about probability. While there is some hope, we will not give up, and at the minute there is loads of hope.”

Despite their remorse at leaving their three children unattended to go to a restaurant on the night Madeleine was snatched, the McCanns say they have never blamed each other. “We have never subconsciously or consciously thought it was Kate’s fault, or it’s my fault. It’s not our fault,” Gerry said.

“They [the abductor] were determined for one reason or another and that’s why we don’t go along with blame or divisiveness. We are a couple in this.”

He added: “I don’t think there’s any doubt that it’s an evil act. I think that’s the simplest way to do it without getting into very strong words. She did not deserve to be abducted. No one deserves to be abducted. It’s heart-wrenching for everyone involved and we pray constantly that she is well and being looked after.

“Until we are sure what has happened it’s very difficult to direct any of these thoughts.”