The parents of missing British girl Madeleine McCann appeared in court in Lisbon to deliver personal statements in their libel case against former police chief inspector Goncalo Amaral.
Madeleine McCann might have been abducted to order and sold on to a wealthy family, according to a theory from an ex-policeman.
Investigators fear she could have been smuggled by boat to Morocco after going missing from the family home at Praia da Luz in Portugal, according to target="_blank">Daily Mail.
Gangs based in nearby Mauritania, West Africa, frequently sell youngsters as slaves to rich families from the Middle East.
Colin Sutton, an ex-Scotland Yard detective, told The Mirror's Andy Lines: "The Mauritania line is certainly a possibility and needs to be looked at."
The newspaper also reported a child "identical" to Madeline was sighted on a well-known people-smuggling route to Morocco.
Mari Olli, who was with her British husband Ray Pollard, said the youngster looked "sad" and asked: "Can we see Mummy soon?", the Mirror reported.
The couple emailed Leicestershire police, who passed the message onto colleagues in Portugal, according to emails released in 2008.
Private detectives employed by the McCanns are examining the theory Madeleine was taken to Morocco, although it is not known if police are looking into it.
In 2007, a small girl said to resemble Madeleine was spotted in Tangier.
Spaniard Clara Torres and her partner spotted the likeness after taking what they thought would simply be a colourful shot of Moroccan life.
Interpol detectives scrutinised a photograph of the child, who could be seen being carried by a group of Moroccans.
It was the fourth reported sighting of the missing four-year-old in Morocco, the first two having come only six days after she disappeared.
Kate McCann, left, and Gerry McCann, the parents of missing British girl Madeleine McCann. Photo/AP
The first reported sighting in Morocco was by Norwegian tourist Mari Pollard, who said she saw a girl who looked like Madeleine with a man at petrol station in Marrakesh on May 9, 2007.
A British holidaymaker later reported seeing a youngster with a strong likeness on the same day outside the Ibis Hotel in Marrakesh, which is virtually opposite the garage.
The third sighting came around three weeks later when a Spanish woman contacted Portuguese police to say she had seen someone she thought looked like the missing girl in Zaio, in the north of Morocco.
She said she saw a "sad and scared" blonde girl being dragged across a street by a woman in a Muslim headscarf.
