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The parents of
Madeleine McCann have marked her fourth birthday with a fresh appeal
for help, nine days after she went missing from a resort in Portugal.
In a statement, Gerry and Kate McCann asked people to "redouble
their efforts" to help find their daughter.
Chancellor Gordon Brown said every parent would be thinking of the
McCann family and what they could do to help.
Madeleine, of Rothley, Leicestershire, disappeared from an apartment
in the resort of Praia da Luz on 3 May.
Huge sums of money are being offered to anyone who gives information
leading to Madeleine's safe return.
A group of business people and celebrities, backed by the News of
the World newspaper, have pledged a total of ?1.5m in reward money.
Donors include Sir Richard Branson, Top Shop's Sir Philip Green and
the paper itself, which has put up ?250,000.
Their offer comes days after Scottish tycoon Stephen Winyard, owner
of Stobo
Castle
in the Scottish Borders, offered a ?1m reward.
Mr Winyard said he would be "rejoicing with the rest of the nation"
if the reward helped to secure Madeleine's safe return.
On Saturday, in a statement read out by Alex Woolfall, a rep from
holiday firm Mark Warner, the McCanns said: "Please keep looking,
please keep praying, please help bring Madeleine home."
They spoke of the "huge amount" of effort being put into the search,
and said offers of support were being made daily.
"It is this that keeps us strong and gives us hope," they said.
'Galvanising' union
The girl's aunt, Philomena McCann, said the couple would be having a
"family day" to celebrate Madeleine's birthday, and her life so far.
Other family members would be gathering at the Glasgow home of Madeleine's uncle, John
McCann, she said.
"We want to have a celebration just now and have another one when
Madeleine comes home - the sooner that is the better."
She said the celebrations would be small and would help to
"galvanise" the family's union.
Meanwhile, players in Saturday's football match between Celtic and Aberdeen will wear yellow
ribbons around their wrists to show their support.
And two Portuguese players for
Edinburgh
side Heart of Midlothian - Jose Goncalves and Bruno Aguiar - made an
appeal for anyone with information to come forward.
Former England
football captain David Beckham, who plays in Spain for Real Madrid, also made an
appeal on Spanish TV urging her safe return.
There has been speculation that Madeleine could have been taken out
of the country.
'Grateful'
Cardiologist Mr McCann earlier said he and his wife, a GP, had seen
at first-hand how strong the police's desire was to find Madeleine.
He said: "We will leave no stone unturned in the search for our
daughter Madeleine."
The official ground search for Madeleine in the Algarve has ended, but police say
they still have significant leads to follow up.
The focus is shifting from being a local search for Madeleine to an
international child abduction inquiry.
Media reports about leads have focused on CCTV footage from a petrol
station on the night of Madeleine's disappearance.
It was thought to feature two men and a woman driving a car with a
British number plate.
Police have declined to confirm or deny reports about any possible
leads, citing Portuguese law.
The UK's Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP),
which works to tackle child sex abuse, has launched a poster
campaign appealing for information on Madeleine's disappearance.
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