KEY POINTS:
LONDON - Blood found in a car hired by the parents of Madeleine McCann weeks after she disappeared definitely came from the British girl, a newspaper has reported.
Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manha has cited police sources as saying new tests on blood found in the hire car conclusively showed it was Madeleine's.
"The definitive result of the tests leave no doubts for the Policia Judiciaria. The blood found in the McCanns car is that of Madeleine as well as those samples detected in the flat," the paper said.
Kate and Gerry McCann, who are official suspects, deny any involvement in their daughter's disappearance from the family's holiday apartment at Praia da Luz in Portugal on May 3 2007.
They have said the presence of Madeleine's blood in the car is impossible because it was hired almost four weeks after she vanished as the couple dined with friends at a nearby restaurant.
They've told investigators that there are innocent explanations for traces of blood found in the car and the apartment, suggesting the DNA could be linked to Madeleine's younger siblings.
Meanwhile, another Portuguese newspaper has reported that the girlfriend of British expatriate and suspect Robert Murat has also been named an official suspect.
Michaela Walczuch, 32, was made a suspect after a witness claimed to have seen her with a small girl two days after Madeleine went missing, 24 Horas reported.
But a spokesman for Portuguese police yesterday said she had "no information" about Walczuch being made a suspect, Britain's Telegraph reported.
Walczuch has publicly denied any involvement.
Murat was the first official suspect in Madeleine's disappearance and also denies any involvement.
Last month, media reports said two more witnesses had come forward to say they saw Murat outside the McCanns' holiday apartment on the night Madeleine vanished.
A total of five people have now reported seeing Murat outside the apartment on May 3.
- AAP
