He urged the Attorrney-General in Lisbon to find out exactly what evidence against her parents was "developed" by British police.

I imagine the top law officer Jose Pinto Monteiro, already knew what it was all about.

He said today that the Portuguese authorities would not respond to "opinions, digressions, political analyses, abstract theories and journalistic comment."

Only fresh evidence would prompt a re-investigation, he said.

The Wikileaks website released a diplomatic cable from 2007 which suggested that British police had played an active role in helping the Portuguese cops build a case against Kate and Gerry McCann over Madeleine's disappearance in May that year.

It was always a bit of a mystery at the time which British police were doing what, though they kept saying they were simply acting as "co-ordinators"

The McCanns' Portuguese lawyer Rogerio Alves said the cable was probably refering to the use of sniffer dogs, which were sent to examine the family's holiday apartment, hire car and other things weeks later and before the couple were made official suspects in September.

Mr. Alves said: "This information is totally useless. It makes one reference to evidence state prosecutors and the Judicial police considered useless.

"Nobody in a democratic state can be brought to trial on the basis of dogs barking."

The dogs were said to have found evidence of blood and a body, but the McCanns were eventually cleared of any involvement in their daughter's disappearance and insist the suspicion around them held up the search for Madeleine and dissuaded potential witness from speaking to police.