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”.
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