The Daily Mail; says: 'Yesterday, freelance journalist Paolo Reis claimed he had seen a four-page preliminary report on the samples which concluded that the blood did not belong to Madeleine.Mr Reis, a 50-year-old former editor of a Portuguese daily newspaper, said the blood matched the profile of a white man from northern Europe but the sample had been "damaged" by detergents used to clean the stains off the wall.
The Forensic Science Service (FSS), which is analysing evidence collected by British police officers during a review of the Portuguese investigation said yesterday they were "very surprised" to see the alleged details of the report made public.
A spokeswoman said: "There is nothing more we can confirm, except that samples are here and analysis is on-going."
CI Ribeiro revealed that the samples will be matched by the FSS against the DNA database of criminals in the UK. He said it was impossible to focus the DNA matches on British ex-pats living in the area around Praia da Luz, explaining: "That is not possible. The UK is the most advanced country with regard to databases. It has a much more complete database. But we cannot imagine making a comparison with all the British (in Praia da Luz)."
Yesterday, Kate and Gerry McCann thanked the thousands of people who have written messages of support to them. Last weekend alone, the couple received 7,000 e-mails of support and countless letters of support.
A retired Portuguese teacher told them: "We are in solidarity with you and believe in Madeleine's return. I hope she returns alive as soon as possible."
