Lisbon: Portugal's police chief has said that authorities were hasty in naming the parents of missing Madeleine McCann as suspects.
Alipio Ribeiro said in an interview to be broadcast on Portugal's Radio Renascenca on Sunday that making Kate and Gerry McCann suspects was a “hasty act''.
Madeleine vanished from their holiday apartment in the Algarve on May 3. The McCann's have launched a high-profile campaign to find her.
The McCanns' spokesman urged Portuguese authorities to drop their suspect status immediately, saying it was hampering the search for Madeleine.
"Not only does it continue to damage their reputation in the eyes of the world, it is also directly hampering the search for Madeleine," spokesman Clarence Mitchell said in a statement.
