Parents of missing Madeleine in Morocco

The parents of missing Madeleine McCann have taken their search to Morocco in the latest of a series of visits to raise awareness of their daughter's disappearance five weeks ago.

Kate and Gerry McCann flew from Lisbon to Casablanca before travelling on to the Moroccan capital of Rabat.

The couple plan to visit a number of child welfare groups and meet Interior Minister, Chakib Benmoussa.

It is the latest country they have visited as part of their high-profile campaign to find four-year-old Madeleine, who was abducted from a holiday villa in the Algarve on May 3.

They have already gone to Germany and the Netherlands - targeting the two countries because the Germans and Dutch are among the largest groups of foreign tourists in the Algarve, after Britons. The McCanns have also taken their appeal to Spain and met the Pope during a general audience at the Vatican.

Last month a woman tourist reported seeing a girl matching Madeleine's description at a petrol station in Marrakech in southern Morocco. Several ferries a day leave from Tarifa in Spain for the short crossing to Tangiers.

The couple intend to meet Fatima Hassar, president of the Moroccan League for the Protection of Children, and visit the National Observatory for Children's Rights yesterday said a spokesman for the McCanns.

The McCanns plan to return to Portugal today, where they intend to stay for the summer, the spokesman said. British media reports over the weekend suggested Gerry McCann was preparing to leave the Algarve and return to Britain after the Morocco trip.