(AFP) – Sep 11, 2007

PORTIMAO, Portugal (AFP) — A Portuguese investigating magistrate was considering Wednesday what further lines of inquiry to pursue after receiving the file on missing British girl Madeleine McCann.

After handing the file over to the magistrate, the country's chief prosecutor said Tuesday that further investigation would continue into the May 3 disappearance of the three-year-old girl and that further action may be taken against her parents, who have been named as suspects.

"The investigation is not finished and new steps are needed after which the possibility will be considered of placing restrictions" against Kate and Gerry McCann, Prosecutor General Fernando Jose Matos said in a statement.

The McCanns were made formal suspects in the case on Friday, but two days later returned to Britain with their two year-old twins with the agreement of the Portuguese authorities.

Portuguese police on Tuesday handed their 10 volumes of reports and evidence to prosecutors, who promptly submitted it to the investigating magistrate.

The magistrate will now have 10 days to consider what further lines of inquiry to pursue and "measures to take, notably concerning the people who have been named as suspects," Matos said in his statement.

The McCanns insist Maddie was abducted while she slept in their holiday apartment as they ate a meal with friends at a tapas bar in the hotel complex where they were staying in the Algarve region of Portugal.

The family say police have suggested Kate McCann was involved in the accidental death of the girl and the couple then covered it up.

Gerry McCann, writing in his blog for the first time since returning to England, said Tuesday the couple were suffering an "unending nightmare" after being named as formal suspects.

"The pain and turmoil we have experienced in this last week is totally beyond description," he wrote.

The McCanns, both 39-year-old doctors, have vowed to clear their names.

Much of the case appears to hinge on DNA samples found in the bedroom where Madeleine and the twins were sleeping and from a car which the McCanns hired after the disappearance.

According to Portuguese media reports, Kate McCann and her husband refused to discuss with police blood traces found in the car.

Some British media said there had been a perfect match with Madeleine's blood but Portugal's national police director, Alipio Ribeiro, denied this.

"None of the results of the analyses allows one to say with certainty that the blood comes from X or Y," Ribeiro said on Portuguese television late Monday.

Kate McCann told British media she believed Portuguese police were trying to frame the couple over the disappearance of Madeleine.

The McCanns have led an international media campaign since May enlisting England football star David Beckham and Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling to support appeals for information. They also went to see Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican.

The couple have now hired London-based law firm Kingsley Napley, whose past clients include former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet and Barings Bank rogue trader Nick Leeson.

The McCanns have been under virtual siege from the media since their return to the once quiet village of Rothley, Leicestershire, central England.

Gerry McCann highlighted the strain in his new blog message, but added: "Kate and I are totally 100 percent confident in each other's innocence and our family and friends have rallied round unflinchingly to support us."

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