Excluding their initial statements given in a marathon session the day after Madeleine went missing, the McCanns have to date almost always met with police at the British Consulate located about one kilometre from the Portim'o police station.
Police, armed with partial findings sent to Portugal on Wednesday by the UK's Forensic Science Centre in Birmingham, were this week holding formal discussions with Kate and Gerry McCann.
Earlier in the week, Portuguese police sources had explained why they had not summoned the McCanns in recent weeks: "Our meetings with the McCanns stopped serving a purpose, as there was nothing new to disclose".
On Thursday evening, police spokesman Olegirio Sousa in comments to The Portugal News said of these new meetings: "They are about bringing the couple up-to-date and to give them some information on latest developments", stressing their was nothing sinister about the meetings.
A source close to the investigation meanwhile revealed that partial forensic results were received by e-mail from Britain on Wednesday.
In a statement released on Thursday afternoonshortly after Kate had been dropped off at the police station by husband Gerry, Mrs McCann once more appealed to her daughter's abductors, pleading: "It is not too late - please let her go or call the police.
"We came to Portugal an ordinary family of five. We just want to know what happened on May 3 and want to be able to go home one family, reunited."
The statement was read out as Mrs McCann was preparing to answer police questions and receive an update on latest proceedings.
Speaking to The Portugal News on Thursday afternoon while she traveling to the police station in Portimio, McCann family spokeswoman Justine McGuinness said Kate and Gerry felt more at ease in the company of Portuguese legal counselors during their meetings with local police.
The last occasion the McCanns were questioned as witnesses, Gerry spent 13 hours giving testimony to police.
In a recent interview awarded to The Portugal News, Olegirio Sousa was adamant that Kate and Gerry were victims as opposed to being suspects.
"Up until now, they are not suspects. If we have any suspicions we are compelled by law to charge them in order to preserve their rights".
At the time of the interview, Portuguese police were still awaiting the initial results of forensic tests, but he stressed that these results would not be the beginning or the end of the case.
"A criminal investigation is like a puzzle", he said, "One piece alone does not solve it. Similarly, the lab results on their own need to be supported by additional evidence and facts."
He further admitted that "Investigators could already have an idea as to what happened, but they need to prove their theories. That is what counts.
"We need to provide evidence. We can even be certain of what happened, but if we can't supply the evidence to a court of law then what we believe is meaningless."
He also stressed: "I am confident that the case will be solved. I am confident that sooner or later we will be able to discover what happened."
Separately, Carlos Pinto de Abreu, the McCanns lawyer, has been instructed by Kate and Gerry McCann to bring charges against a Portuguese weekly newspaper for defamation.
The case will be taken against Emidio Fernando, Tal & Qual's Director, and Catarina Vaz, Tal & Qual's journalist. Papers have been sent to the Court in Oporto.
The legal expenses for the proceedings will not be paid from Madeleine's fund, Mr McCann explained recently.
Speaking to The Portugal News shortly after hearing of the legal action, Emidio Fernando explained: "I am keeping to the story", adding his newspaper, which he took charge of at the beginning of the year, 'Never accused anyone, it only says that police believe' in a certain theory."
But in a statement sent to The Portugal News, McCann family lawyer Carlos Pinto de Abreu said: "The press has engaged in a horrific exercise in scandal mongering, replete with rumours and lurid commentaries which are all aimed at one thing: to sell more TV time and newspaper space to advertisers. Fortunately so far only a few character assassinating, tabloid-style outlets have gone beyond the limits of decency".
Four-year-old Madeleine, of Rothley, Leicestershire, disappeared from the family's holiday apartment on May 3 while her parents were dining in a nearby restaurant. - Source: The Portugal News Online
