GARY HAGLAND on the McCann Team's preparations to look for Madeleine in Morocco, and how the King of Morocco gave permission for Metodo 3 to enter his kingdom

Here is a short extract from Gary Hagland’s manuscript. It deals with the preparations of the McCann Team for their search for Madeleine in Morocco. The events described by Hagland occurred in late September 2007. I add a note below of events occurring around this time:

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

QUOTE Gary Hagland

It was with the support of Helping to Find Madeleine in mind that I first began to research and analyse Morocco as a realistic target destination for Madeleine. This was against a backdrop not just of limited investigative resource but fading resource.

The September 2007 sighting of a white, fair-haired small girl seen being carried papoose-style on the back of a Moroccan peasant woman near the town of Zinat, whose snatched photograph by Clara Torres, a tourist form Albacete, Spain, was splashed across British newspapers with the strap-line: ‘Could this be the face of Madeleine McCann?’, focused attention that fair-skinned, blonde offspring are not unusual in this region, and that Madeleine could more easily be assimilated and absorbed, than not. It also triggered Brian Kennedy flying to the area in the belief the sighting was Madeleine.

It wasn’t Madeleine; the child, Bouchra Ben Aisa, was a relative of the woman who was carrying her. The sense that Madeleine was there remained with me, however. This was reinforced by a report from another Spanish woman who was convinced that she saw Madeleine in the town of Zaio in northern Morocco at the end of May. The woman said that she saw a girl she believed was Madeleine being led by a Moroccan woman in Muslim dress. Allegedly, a gust of wind blew the child’s hat off, exposing her blonde hair underneath. Then there were two sightings of a blonde girl matching Madeleine’s description in Marrakesh on May 9th.

The Kingdom of Morocco, with Rabat being its capital, is located in North Africa. With the large main cities of Fes, Sale, Agadir, Marrakesh, Tangier, Meknes, Oujda and Tetouan, it has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea. It is bordered by Spain to the north, Algeria to the east, and Mauritania to the south.

The King of Morocco holds not inconsiderable powers, although executive power is exercised by the government, while legislative power is vested in both the government and two chambers of parliament, the Assembly of Representatives and Assembly of Councillors. The 442,000 square miles of country are divided into grids that encompass villages. The mayors of these often small villages are known as moquadem; they are they eyes and ears of the King. Nothing gets by their attention.

Supporting the moquadem is the village Association charged with making decisions in the village. These associations are composet exclusively of men; in Muslim Morocco, men are undeniably in control of government and women are confined to affairs of the home, ideal for bringing-up young children.

Getting Metodo 3 on the ground operationally in Morocco was going to be difficult. It was clear the moquadem structure could not be clandestinely circumvented or subverted without running a very real risk of interdiction and punitive reprisal. This meant Morocco had to be worth the effort and the risk.

I called a friend who used to work the Moroccan desk for MI6. We met for lunch in the bowels of the Institute of Directors for lunch. It was to be a revelatory meeting.

PART SNIPPED

I briefed Brian Kennedy and Metodo 3 and Brian set about his contacts in an effort to pave the way to seek permission from the King of Morocco, King Mohammed VI, to enter the Kingdom to look for her. The King’s consort, Princess Salma, was already sympathetic to Madeleine’s plight. Eventually, with the help of the British Embassy in Rabat, a deal was struck.

On a strict understanding that the King’s approval was unofficial and immediately deniable; on the proviso that nothing would be done to the detriment of the sovereign standing and good reputation of the Kingdom, and on the unequivocal basis that any arrest or interdiction be undertaken in collaboration with the office of Director General of the Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire - the Moroccan Secret Service - and that we were escorted at all times by a representative of the Royal Guard, we were in.

Secretly, with Brian Kennedy’s jet to be located at Rabat on standby, on the first confirmation of a sighting of Madeleine she would be quickly removed straight to the jet, diplomacy and bureaucracy taking a back-seat.

Brian Kennedy and I selected the Metodo 3 agent to be on the ground, undoubtedly their best. Quiet, unassuming, with a poor grasp of English, nonetheless he was good at undercover work and discrete surveillance. Synchronised with the infiltration, Helping to Find Maledeine had agreed to produce a poster of Madeleine in Arabic to be delivered and distributed by the moquadems at the King’s direction.

Military-grade maps of Morocco, new satellite communications, medical equipment, gold sovereigns, and field kit, were all assembled for Paddy [= Patrick Kennedy] and me who were to join Metodo 3’s agent on the ground for a month. The single Royal Guard representative, Mohammed, had been introduced to us via the British Embassy in Rabat by ’phone; he spoke excellent English and came across as being both confident and knowledgeable. As we planned our route, based on the more ‘quality’ of sightings of Madeleine in Morocco, Mohammed briefed us as to the more dangerous of areas we would traverse and the protocol we were to adopt when in these higher-risk locations. At least he would be armed.

We received [information from a person purporting to be] a Moroccan English teacher who said s[he] knew that Madeleine was being held by a family of fisher folk by the shore of the Massa Lagoon, about an hour’s drive south of Agadir…the message described how the fisher-family was being paid to hold and look after Madeleine until she had physically aged and matured…During this time Madeleine was being dressed in traditional Moroccan child’s attire, was being taught Arabic, and had her hair cut and dyed…

Popular with tourists and ornithologists alike, birds visiting the Lagoon include flamingos, spoonbill, avocets, ducks, black and spotted sandgouse, godwit, turnstone, dunlin, snipe, black-headed bush shrike, little crake, white stork, black-winged stilt, marsh harrier and osprey. As far as cover for Metodo 3 was concerned, armed with binoculars, this ornithologists’ paradise was an excellent plume of cover.

While Paddy went to see his doctor to get the necessary inoculations for the trip, I busied myself co-ordinating the ground operation with the ladies of Helping to Find Maledeine who were going to pre-empt our arrival with a poster distribution.

Brian Kennedy walked in to Knutsford late in the afternoon…

REST SNIPPED


Other events around this time

Sat Sep 8 McCanns made arguidos

Mon Sep 10 McCanns return to England

Weds Sep 12  Dr Kate McCann says Edward Smethurst first contacted them

Fri Sep 14 Kennedy and Smethurst attend meeting with McCanns and several lawyers in London

Sat Sep 15 Gerry McCann blog entry:

“To that end I would like to announce that the Fund will finance a broad range of initiatives in advertising to remind everyone that Madeleine is still missing. These adverts will focus on Spain, Portugal and other parts of Europe and will consist of billboards and other media. This financing of advertisements will complement previous efforts by the Fund and many motivated individuals – family, friends and people touched by our cause”.

"I hope that the general public will continue to support us in this.

"It is so important that we remember: ‘don't you forget about me’- our lovely wee Madeleine.”

John McCann issues a statement along similar lines

Sun Sep 16 Matt Baggott, Leicestershire Police Chief Constable, writes to the media ‘urging restraint’

Mon 17 Sep Clarence Mitchell officially resigns as Director of Tony Blair’s Media Monitoring Unit and begins to work full-time for the McCanns

Thurs Sep 20 McCanns say they meet five lawyers in London

Fri Sep 21 Kate & Gerry McCann publicly offer to take lie detector tests

Sun Sep 23 Press report announcing that Brian Kennedy will help to pay for legal expenses. There is absolutely no mention of him setting up an investigation HQ in Knutsford.

The press reports say:

“An Edinburgh-born tycoon has emerged as the mystery backer of the family of Madeleine McCann. Brian Kennedy, who is estimated to be worth £250m, broke his silence to explain why he is supporting the couple. His money is helping Gerry and Kate McCann have access to some of Britain's leading lawyers as well as the backing of a full-time media liaison officer.

He said: ‘I felt compelled to offer, along with other like-minded businessmen, financial support and the full logistical support of the Latium team. The support is principally our in-house lawyer, Ed Smethurst, and the official spokesman, Clarence Mitchell’

He continued: ‘This will relieve the McCanns of the daily pressure of coordinating the legal teams which will expedite the clearing of Gerry and Kate's names, allowing all the parties to refocus on finding Madeleine’.”

Mon Sep 24 Forensic Scientist from Control Risks comes to take hair samples from Dr Kate McCann, Sean and Amelie. They produced ‘negative results’.

Gerry McCann blog entry:

“Kate and I have been very busy with our legal advisers as we want to be eliminated from the inquiry as soon as possible and start concentrating wholeheartedly again on the search for our daughter. We are very confident this will happen when all the facts are presented together. We are very grateful and thankful to have several businessmen who have pledged financial support to cover legal costs and we were delighted Clarence Mitchell agreed to help us as an official spokesman. It is scary and daunting to imagine how we could have managed to deal with these latter ‘developments’ without such offers of support and commitment. Clarence will try and minimise the impact of the huge media interest in Madeleine’s disappearance on us, as we try and return slowly towards as normal a life as is possible”.

Tues Sep 25 Received a photograph from a Spanish tourist of a girl resembling Madeleine being carried on a peasant’s back. Brian Kennedy calls the McCanns and says he is flying out to Morocco to see if it is Madeleine

Tues 2 Oct Goncalo Amaral removed from the Madeleine McCann case

Fri 5 Oct Gerry McCann blog entry:

“The investigation will have a new coordinator appointed to replace chief inspector Amaral. We are happy to continue cooperating with the Portuguese authorities and in fact as arguidos, we can request that certain investigations are carried out”.