Parents of missing British girl face difficult questions

Описание: (7 Jun 2007) SHOTLIST
1. Wide of Gerry and Kate McCann walking into news conference
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Sabina Mueller, reporter from German Radio:
"How do you deal with the fact that more and more people seem to be pointing the finger at you, saying the way you behave is not the way people would normally behave when their child is abducted and they seem to imply that you might have something to do with it?"
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Kate McCann, mother:
"To be honest, I don't actually think that is the case. I think that is a very small minority of people that are criticising us. The facts are that we were dining very close to the children and we were checking them very, very regularly. You know, we are very responsible parents and we love our children so much and I think it's only a very few people that are actually criticising us."
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Gerry McCann, father:
"I have never heard before that anyone considers us suspects in this. The Portuguese police certainly don't. And without getting into too much detail about the circumstances , we were with a large group of people and there is absolutely no way Kate and I are involved in this abduction."
5. UPSOUND: (English) Kate McCann explains what kind of clothing Madeleine was wearing when she was abducted
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Gerry McCann, father:
"And everything we have done has been by taking counsel from experts around us, but we were advised that generally raising awareness of her disappearance will help in the search for that person. It's helped Kate and I and we have taken strength, not just from the people who have supported us, but we have taken strength ourselves by being active in the search. And I think if we had for example stayed indoors, locked ourselves away, and just waited, and waited, and waited, for a month, we would be shells of the people we are."
7. Gerry and Kate McCann leaving news conference
STORYLINE
The parents of a British girl who disappeared in Portugal on Wednesday appealed to German tourists for help in their search for the four-year-old.
Madeleine McCann disappeared on May 3 when her parents left her and her two-year-old twin siblings in their hotel room while they dined at a nearby restaurant in their hotel complex in Praia da Luz, in the Algarve region.
Speaking in Berlin, Kate and Gerry McCann urged tourists from Germany who had visited the Algarve to come forward with holiday pictures that might contain hints about Madeleine's disappearance.
At their news conference, the parents faced difficult questions from a German reporter, who asked if they had anything to do with their daughter's disappearance.
Clearly taken aback by the journalist's question, the McCanns vehemently denied this.
"We are very responsible parents and we love our children so much and I think it's only a very few people that are actually criticising us," Kate McCann said.
"I have never heard before that anyone considers us suspects in this. The Portuguese police certainly don't," her husband added, before insisting "there is absolutely no way Kate and I are involved in this abduction."
The couple plan to travel to Amsterdam on Thursday to appeal for help from Dutch tourists.
They also expect to visit Morocco, a short boat trip away from Portugal.

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