PORTUGAL:The father of Madeleine McCann, the four-year-old British girl who disappeared in southern Portugal two weeks ago, headed back to Britain last night as the family prepared to start flying around Europe to spread the campaign to find her.
Gerry McCann was due to meet campaign organisers as the hunt for his daughter took on an increasingly sophisticated aspect and contributions from companies and individuals began filling up a special fund set up to help the search.
The lightning trip home was mainly, however, to sort out "personal matters" that have arisen during the family's stay in Praia da Luz, the resort where Madeleine disappeared from their holiday apartment 18 days ago.
"There is no co-ordinated programme yet, but they are looking at everything and they are taking advice on what is right," the family spokeswoman said last night. "If it means going around Europe to meet people, talk to people, then they will do that. We haven't sat down and done any plan, but it's where their thoughts are going at the moment."
Mr McCann also said over the weekend that they were spending more and more time discussing "how to keep Madeleine's profile high, especially throughout continental Europe".
Despite criticism alleging media overkill of the Madeleine McCann story from commentators in Britain and Portugal in recent days, the family remains determined to keep coverage on the boil.
The press was allowed closer to the family over the weekend, as Mr McCann and his wife, Kate, appeared to accept that a certain loss of privacy was a price worth paying to keep Madeleine's case in the public eye. A press photographer was allowed to watch them playing with their twins, Amelie and Seán.
Yellow and green, the colours of hope, have become part of their everyday life. Ms McCann, as has become customary, had yellow and green ribbons tied in her hair while Mr McCann wore a green and yellow wristband and Amelie had her hair tied with a green clip and a yellow band.
In a nearby apartment, the self-styled "Team McCann", made up mainly of a small but determined group of friends and relatives, continued to try to build a global campaign to find Madeleine. The British government has provided a media relations expert to help the family.