Madeleine McCann’s parents have said they welcome the news convicted child abuser Christian B has been named an official suspect in their case of their daughter’s disappearance.

In a statement signed “Kate & Gerry” the couple also said they hold out hope Madeleine is still alive despite German police treating her death as a murder investigation.

The statement reads: “We welcome the news that the Portuguese authorities have declared a German man an ‘arguido’ in relation to the disappearance of our beloved daughter Madeleine.

“This reflects progress in the investigation, being conducted by the Portuguese, German and British authorities. We are kept informed of developments by the Metropolitan Police.

“It is important to note the ‘arguido’ has not yet been charged with any specific crime related to Madeleine’s disappearance.

“Even though the possibility may be slim, we have not given up hope that Madeleine is still alive and we will be reunited with her.”

The statement comes a day after prosecutors in the the Algarve city of Faro did not name Christian B, but said a person was made an “arguido” by German authorities at the request of Portugal’s public prosecution service.

Arguido translates as “named suspect” or “formal suspect”.

In Portuguese law, an arguido status can be a preliminary move ahead of an arrest being made or charges brought.

Christian B was identified as a murder suspect in the case of Madeleine by German prosecutors in June 2020, but he has not been charged since then.

Investigators believe the convicted sex offender killed Madeleine, then three, after abducting her from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in May 2007.

The move by Portuguese authorities could allow the suspect, who is in prison in Germany, to be transferred to the Algarve for formal questioning.

The German newspaper Bild reported that Christian B’s lawyer, Friedrich Fuelscher, said the Portuguese decision appeared to be a “procedural trick”.

Reports suggested the move could be linked to the country’s statute of limitations, which does not generally allow crimes which carry a maximum prison sentence to be prosecuted more than 15 years after they were committed.

This would mean the suspect, named Christian B in Germany due to the country’s strict privacy laws, could no longer be charged in Portugal after 3 May.

Christian B is serving a seven-year sentence in Germany for the 2005 rape of a 72-year-old US woman in Praia da Luz.

A federal court in Karlsruhe, a city in south-west Germany, rejected an appeal against the conviction in November 2020.

The Metropolitan Police continue to treat Madeleine’s disappearance as a missing persons inquiry.

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