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[This edited version of the report has been prepared by Dr Robert N Moles]

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Settlement of defamation action: this is the report of the settlement of the defamation action concerning the McCann family in respect of publications which have cast aspersions upon their inegrity

On 20 December 2007 Vanessa Allen of the Daily Mail reported “Madeleine: Portuguese detectives trawl thousands of phone records”.

She said that thousands of Portuguese telephone records have been seized by police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. Detectives are trawling through the paperwork looking for unusual patterns of calls around the time she vanished. Head of the inquiry Paulo Rebelo ordered the check across Praia da Luz, Burgau and Lagos - a region which has a population of 27,000. Madeleine has not been seen since May 3.

He has gone back to old-fashioned policing methods after forensic evidence failed to provide any breakthroughs. The operation indicates the team believes a local accomplice may have been involved in aiding Madeleine's abduction. Detectives have begun the process of contacting up to 1,000 locals whose records or mobile signals show they were in Praia da Luz on the night of May 3.

Officers are particularly interested in the time between 9.30pm and 10pm, when they believe Madeleine disappeared. One resident said two detectives visited her on Tuesday, armed with two sheets of paper containing hundreds of numbers. They asked her to confirm her mobile number and then asked her who she had called at 9.50pm on May 3. She identified the number as her husband's mobile and said the officers told her: "We are investigating all calls made within Praia da Luz from 9.30pm onwards on May 3."

She said four of her neighbours had also been contacted by police about calls they made. Detectives can use the "triangulation method" to pinpoint users who were in Praia da Luz on May 3. Mobiles give out signals every time they make or receive a call or text message, and when they are switched on and off. Those signals are logged by phone masts and from measuring the strength of the signal to local masts, experts can identify precisely where a phone was used.

Kate and Gerry McCann were said to be "encouraged" by the police work. "Any information could prove vital," their spokesman said.

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