Madeleine McCann suspect wins libel award

Robert Murat, a Briton who lives at the Portuguese resort where Madeleine McCann vanished last year, won a large libel award from 11 papers who had claimed he was involved in her disappearance, media reports said.

Murat was questioned by Portuguese police and his villa searched soon after Madeleine went missing from her bedroom in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz on May 3.

He was later given "arguido" status, making him a formal suspect, although he denied any involvement.

Murat had often spoken to reporters in the days just after the disappearance of Madeleine, saying she looked like his daughter in England. His mother's house was about 150 metres from the resort apartment where the McCann family was staying.

Media reports said he had launched legal action in April against 11 newspapers, the Sun, Daily Mail, Daily Express, Sunday Express, Daily Star, London Evening Standard, Metro, Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror, News of the World and the Scotsman.

On Tuesday, the newspapers were said to have agreed to pay Murat between 250,000 and 550,000 pounds and to issue a written apology for their coverage, the reports said.

A formal hearing on the case is due at London's High Court on Thursday.

The news comes after Madeleine's parents Gerry and Kate McCann won 550,000 pounds in damages from the Daily Express and Daily Star in March over stories which suggested they might have killed their daughter.

The papers issued front page apologies for the "baseless" reports and agreed to pay the money which was donated to the fund set up to find the missing girl.

Despite a worldwide hunt and numerous reported sightings of Madeleine, no confirmed trace of her has ever been found.

Earlier this month, Portuguese police sent their final report on the case to prosecutors, with local media reporting that detectives had ended their investigation.

The McCanns and Murat still remain official suspects although reports said police had found insufficient evidence to bring charges against anybody.