Portugal:Portuguese police hunting for Madeleine McCann said last night that they were concentrating their efforts on forensic analysis of materials taken from the villa where the only formal suspect in the investigation lives.
Although it was unclear whether detectives had any definite leads, they said they had thoroughly searched Casa Liliana, where Robert Murat lives with his mother, Jenny.
Casa Liliana is just 150m (490ft) from the apartment complex from which Madeleine disappeared while her parents, doctors Gerry and Kate McCann, ate dinner at a restaurant 50m (160ft) away.
Portuguese newspapers reported yesterday that police had carried away computer material and video cassettes. A cesspit at the house was reportedly drained and police took samples from cars parked in front of the villa.
Police said last night that they were focusing on what they called "lines of investigation which show a higher consistency".
They said that as a result of information gathered over the weekend, one particular line of inquiry had become especially strong and that various homes on the Algarve had been searched. They added that there were five separate searches on Monday morning which had led to material being seized for analysis.
Police confirmed that a 33-year-old man living in the area had been named as a formal suspect. But they stressed that "no evidence was collected in order to ground his arrest and subsequent judicial interrogation".
Friends and family of Mr Murat yesterday described the father of one as a sometimes over-enthusiastic extrovert, but said he would not have been capable of abducting the girl.
Mr Murat's German girlfriend, Michaela Walczuch, and her estranged husband, a Portuguese pool cleaner called Luis, were released overnight after also being interviewed at the police station in nearby Portimao. The couple have an eight-year-old daughter.
Ms Walczuch refused to talk yesterday when contacted at the online real estate agency, Romigen, which she and Mr Murat set up last year.
A former colleague at the Remax real estate agency in Lagos, near Praia da Luz, said Mr Murat was "very open and extrovert, but in a good way".
Rui Cristino said: "He is fun. But sometimes he carries on when everyone else has stopped."
Mr Murat raised suspicions among reporters because of the way he hung around journalists while claiming to be translating for the police. Relatives described him as being "over-helpful".
"Robert is so sweet and good-natured. I know he can never have been involved in Madeleine's abduction because he is so good-natured," said his uncle, Ralph Eveleigh, who runs a bed and breakfast in the village of Burgau, near Praia da Luz.
"He put himself out there because he wanted to help out, which was why he was working as a translator to help the police and the media," he added.
Mr Murat reportedly phoned his mother yesterday to proclaim his innocence and claim that the Portuguese were "just trying to find an Englishman to blame".
In Britain, police were yesterday guarding a house in Hockering, Norfolk, where Mr Murat's estranged wife Dawn and his four-year-old daughter live.
Villagers said Mr Murat moved to Portugal about three years ago.
Neighbours said he was friendly and helpful, and his involvement in the investigation was a "bolt out of the blue".
Meanwhile, the McCanns continued their routine of waiting and caring for their two-year-old twins, Sean and Amelie.
Lawyers working for the couple said they would give details later this week of how a fighting fund set up to help in the search for Madeleine would be used.
Last night the family was due to attend a Mass conducted by a family friend, Fr Paul Seddon, who has flown out to Praia da Luz from Formby, near Liverpool.
A spokeswoman for the family said the Mass was a way of saying goodbye to the friends who came on holiday with them.