Hoax phone call leaves McCanns drained

LONDON, June 9 (Reuters) The parents of missing Madeleine McCann are planning to travel to Morocco despite admitting to having become tired and emotionally drained during a two-day appeal in Berlin and Amsterdam.

The couple delayed their flight from the German capital to Amsterdam on Thursday by three hours so they could help police after investigators received a mystery phone call from a man claiming to know Madeleine's whereabouts.

Media reports said the ''credible'' call was taken from a man who wanted to speak directly to the McCanns.

Gerry McCann said in his blog: ''We had to delay our onward flight to Amsterdam because of some information received by the police, which we needed to be consulted on. But it turned out to be nothing of interest.

''We arrived in Amsterdam three hours late, very tired and emotionally drained.'' They had gone to Germany and the Netherlands as part of their campaign to find their missing 4-year-old daughter who was abducted from a holiday villa in the Algarve on May 3.

They targeted the two countries because after British tourists, the largest groups of nationals who make up the tourists in the Algarve are the Germans and Dutch.

They met the deputy justice minister of Germany and the Mayor of Berlin and appeared on numerous television shows.

At one stage they were forced during a news conference to answer a question which suggested they themselves may have been involved in Madeleine's disappearance.

''The German interviewers are a little more direct with their questions but I was still surprised by the question as to whether Kate and I may be involved in Madeleine's abduction,'' Gerry wrote.

''Hopefully our answers removed any doubt on that score.'' They have also taken their appeal to Spain and met the Pope during a general audience at the Vatican.

They attended a classical and jazz concert back in the Algarve on Thursday evening, held in honour of Madeleine.

The McCanns plan a quiet day with their other children, twins Amelie and Sean, before travelling to Morocco at the weekend, reports said.

The couple feel Morocco is an important place to go because of its proximity to Portugal. Several ferries a day leave from Tarifa in Spain for the short crossing to Tangiers.

REUTERS SV BD0916