Madeleine McCann's Parents to sue Police Chief

• The parents of Madeleine McCann are to sue
• Chief questioned parents involvement in disappearance
• Madeleine been missing since 2007

The parents of Madeleine McCann are to travel to Portugal to launch a libel action against former police chief Goncalo Amaral, who had made claims about them in a book about their daughter's disappearance.

The couple plans to attend the opening of the trial in Lisbon on Friday and return to the UK, their spokesman Clarence Mitchell said.

Madeleine was nearly four when she went missing from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal on May 3, 2007 while her parents dined with friends nearby, Sky News reports.

Despite a massive police investigation and worldwide publicity she has not been found.

Amaral was involved in the initial investigation to find Madeleine but was later taken off the case.

In his book, 'The Truth Of The Lie', he claimed Madeleine was dead and questioned the McCanns' account that she was taken while they were eating with friends.

In September, a Portuguese judge granted an injunction banning further sale or publication of his book. It also banned Amaral from repeating his claims about Madeleine or her parents.

The injunction came after a year-long campaign by the McCanns' lawyers to prevent the book's publication and a subsequent DVD.

Speaking after it was granted, Gerry McCann said false allegations had done immense damage to the search for their daughter because Portuguese people would be dissuaded from coming forward with information.

At one point Portuguese police made the McCanns, from Rothley, Leics in central England formal suspects in their daughter's disappearance.

They were questioned by detectives but their status as formal suspects was later lifted and since then they have continued to campaign to find their daughter.

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