Daily Mail Headline 'Girl in 'Madeleine in Morocco' photo is peasant farmer's daughter Bushra; says: 'A photo believed to show missing Madeleine McCann alive in Morocco is NOT her, it was claimed this afternoon.The picture, taken by a Spanish tourist is thought to show Bushra Binhisa, the five-year-old daughter of a farmer who lives in the region.
The revelation will be yet another devastating blow to the missing girl's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann who admitted today that they had been on an "emotional rollercoaster" following several alleged sightings.
Bushra comes from a village in the Rif mountains in northern Morocco where her family have lived and farmed several generations.
She was captured on film by a tourist on 31 August - and the image of her bore a striking resemblance to Madeleine. "It sent shivers down my spine. Either it's Madeleine or she's got a twin," said Spanish tourist Clara Torres.
British experts who identify victims of sex abuse by face-mapping techniques had been called in to study the image. But today Bushra was revealed as the girl in the photo.
Speaking through an interpreter, her father Hamid, an olive farmer with a smallholding, said: "Bushra is my little girl. She is not Madeleine. I do feel sorry for her parents, I hope they find Madeleine. But Bushra is definitely my daughter."
How convenient. How very convenient indeed that a journalist (if the story is indeed correct that I just read on Sky News) was able to track this little girl to her village and interview her father. Remember the picture was permitted to 'break' in world news yesterday ... and now today we are provided with 'the mistaken identity story'. Very quick eh? Mmmmm ... exit stage left ... and don't forget the props and costumes too!