Gonçalo Amaral's book, "Maddie: TheTruth of The Lie," close to UK publication.

http://sosmaddie.dhblogs.be/

15/11/08

"Maddie's parents are on the edge of hysterics.

The announcement of the publication of Gonçalo Amaral's book, "Maddie: The Truth of The Lie," in the United Kingdom is worrying Kate and Gerry McCann who have already started to intimidate British publishing houses by threatening them with reprisals in court.

To be continued."

Today the Independent on Sunday reports on the negotiation of a deal with several interested UK publishers.

Independent on Sunday 16/11/08

"The book's publisher, Mario Sena Lopes, said there was now an English version of Mr Amaral's book and he was negotiating a UK deal. He said several publishers were interested and he was confident the British public would soon be able to read the book."

The McCann's spokesman, Clarence Mitchell is quoted by the Independent as saying:
"Clarence Mitchell, a spokesman for the McCanns, said last night: "Lawyers for Kate and Gerry have been aware of what Mr Amaral has been alleging for some time. What he has said and written before now is grossly defamatory of them.

"If he chooses to publish them in Britain those words will be studied intensely carefully and they will not hesitate to act if they are defamatory."

Dr Amaral insists that his book contains only details of the opinion of the police teams who investigated Madeleine McCann's disappearance. The investigation was a collaborative effort between British and Portuguese police.

"Mr Amaral said: "I received numerous messages of support and solidarity since being taken off the case, including from the UK – messages that also motivated me to tell people what I knew about the Maddie case. I am positive that there's also a section of the public eager to know the truth.

"People can form their opinion without the manipulation that we have seen before."

He said his only regret was failing to carry out a reconstruction of the events soon after Madeleine vanished but claims he was put under "serious pressure" not to. He insisted this was the only failure in a "perfect" text-book investigation.

Asked whether he thought Madeleine was dead, he said: "It is not just my opinion. A whole team of Portuguese and British investigators came to that conclusion last year, and this is part of the files. I have never said the couple killed their daughter and this is not my belief. Deaths may happen for natural reasons, accident or intervention by a third party."

He said he was unperturbed by the threat of any legal action from the McCann family. "There is no reason for that. The details exposed in the book are facts, happenings and objective data which figure in the process and not lies, as they have been described in the press."

He denied he was profiting from the tragic case. "The biggest thing I achieved with this book was to defend my honour and that of those who worked with me. The way I see it, you cannot put a price on dignity. The other objective of the book is to contribute to the search for the truth."

I will end with Dr Amaral's words on the UK publication.

"I am positive that there's also a section of the public eager to know the truth."