ARADE DAM, Portugal: Portuguese police aided by German and British colleagues on Tuesday resumed their search for Madeleine McCann, the British child who disappeared in the country’s southern Algarve region 16 years ago.
Between 20 and 30 officers, some in uniform, could be seen in the area by the Arade dam, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Praia da Luz, where the 3-year-old was last seen alive in 2007.
Portuguese police had set up a blue base tent and cordoned off the area to the media and public. Eyewitnesses said police began searching shortly before 8 a.m. Tuesday in an area some kilometers (miles) away from the tent. More than a dozen cars and police vans could be seen arriving in the area.
On Monday, Portugal’s Judicial Police issued a statement saying the search was being resumed at the request of German authorities and with help from British officials.
German prosecutors in Braunschweig said in a written statement Tuesday that “criminal procedural measures are currently taking place in Portugal as part of the investigation into the Madeleine McCann case.”
They added that “the measures are being implemented by way of mutual legal assistance by the Portuguese prosecution authorities with the support of officers from the Federal Criminal Police Office.”
“More detailed information on the background is not being released at this time for investigative tactical reasons,” the statement said.
In mid-2020, German officials said a 45-year-old German citizen, identified by media as Christian Brueckner, who was in the Algarve in 2007, was a suspect in the case. Brueckner has denied any involvement.
Brueckner is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for a rape he committed in Portugal in 2005.
He is under investigation on suspicion of murder in the McCann case but hasn’t been charged. He spent many years in Portugal, including in Praia da Luz, around the time of Madeleine’s disappearance.
The case stirred worldwide interest for several years, with reports of sightings of her stretching as far away as Australia, along with a slew of books and television documentaries about the case.
Rewards for finding Madeleine, who would now be 20, reached several million dollars.
British, Portuguese and German police are still piecing together what happened on the night when the toddler disappeared from her bed in the southern Portuguese resort on May 3, 2007. She was in the same room as her twin brother and sister, who were 2 at the time, while her parents had dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant.
Portuguese police resume search for Madeleine McCann, British child missing since 2007
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Portuguese police resume search for Madeleine McCann, British child missing since 2007
- Search being resumed at the request of German authorities and with help from British officials
- Case has stirred worldwide interest for several years, with reports of sightings of her as far away as Australia
US backs Japan in dispute with China over radar incident
- US criticizes China for radar targeting Japanese aircraft
- Incident follows Japan PM’s remarks on potential Chinese attack on Taiwan
WASHINGTON/TOKYO: The United States has for the first time criticized China for aiming radars at Japanese military aircraft during a training exercise last week, incidents that the Asian neighbors have given differing accounts of amid escalating tensions.
The run-in near Japan’s Okinawa islands comes after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi triggered a dispute with Beijing last month with her remarks on how Tokyo might react to a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan.
China claims democratically governed Taiwan and has not ruled out using force to take control of the island, which sits just over 100 km from Japanese territory and is surrounded by sea lanes that Tokyo relies on.
“China’s actions are not conducive to regional peace and stability,” a State Department spokesperson said late Tuesday, referring to the radar incident.
“The US-Japan Alliance is stronger and more united than ever. Our commitment to our ally Japan is unwavering, and we are in close contact on this and other issues.”
China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Japan late on Tuesday scrambled jets to monitor Russian and Chinese air forces conducting joint patrols around the country.
MOST SERIOUS INCIDENT IN YEARS
The Chinese fighter jets aiming their radars at the Japanese planes on Saturday was the most serious run-in between the East Asian militaries in years.
Such moves are seen as a threatening step because it signals a potential attack and may force the targeted plane to take evasive action. Tokyo blasted the moves as “dangerous.”
Beijing, however, said that the Japanese aircraft had repeatedly approached and disrupted the Chinese navy as it was conducting previously announced carrier-based flight training east of the Miyako Strait.
Speaking to reporters in Taipei on Wednesday, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said China’s drills were “very inappropriate behavior.”
“We also call upon China to demonstrate the responsibility befitting a major power. Peace is priceless; war has no winners. Peace must be fostered by all parties, and China shares this responsibility,” he said.
Relations between Asia’s two largest economies have soured sharply since Takaichi told parliament last month that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could amount to a “survival-threatening situation” and trigger a potential military response from Tokyo.
Beijing has demanded she retract the remarks, accused Tokyo of threatening it militarily and advised its citizens not to travel to Japan.
US Ambassador to Japan George Glass has publicly expressed support for Japan in several social media posts since the diplomatic dispute began, but President Donald Trump and other senior US officials have remained silent.
Trump, who plans to visit Beijing next year for trade talks, telephoned Takaichi last month, urging her not to escalate the dispute, people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
