MADELEINE McCann prime suspect Christian B is hoping the disgraced cop who led the probe into her disappearance will clear him.
Goncalo Amaral has now met with the jailed German’s lawyer Friedrich Fuelscher, who has promised to reveal a “big” breakthrough in the case in the coming weeks.
Convicted paedophile and rapist Christian B was named as the prime suspect in the 2007 disappearance of Madeleine and is currently serving a one year nine month sentence for drug dealing.
Portuguese Police sources say Christian B hopes Amaral – who believes the German is a “scapegoat”– will help provide further information to support his claims he was not responsible for the crimes.
A source said ever since Christian B’s “name was released by the German authorities, Amaral, along with many other senior Portuguese police officers, have insisted he is not the man who took Madeleine.
“They looked at him, ruled him out and believe focusing on him distracts from really finding out what may have happened to Madeleine.”
The source said that the suspect’s “legal team hope Amaral will help to provide further information as to the original investigation.
“They are interested in who Amaral and his team spoke to, what they learned and how that information was used.”
Christian B’s lawyer Friedrich Fuelscher has himself last week flew to the Algarve, where Madeleine went missing during a family holiday in 2007.
He claimed he uncovered completely new information which he plans to reveal in coming weeks.
“I cannot tell you what it is – but it is big. It certainly surprised me,” he said.
During his time in Portugal he met Amaral who led the hunt for Madeleine and named parents, Kate and Gerry, of Rothley, Leicestershire, as suspects.
The McCann’s have previously been locked in legal battles with Amaral over the publication of his book about the case.
He was removed as head of the investigation after criticising British detectives and claiming they were only following leads the McCanns asked them to pursue.
Meanwhile Sun Online can reveal how German officers want to expand their investigation to the Algarve in a bid to throw up new clues.
Last week they spent 12 hours talking to his ex in the Algarve, the first time they have been allowed to work on the case in Portugal.
But German officers are keen to return and are willing to work more closely with their Portuguese counterparts.
One reason they have been restricted is because relations between the German and Portuguese police – who ruled out Christian B as a suspect years ago – are so poor.
The source said they are keen to return because “they are convinced clues to what happened to Madeleine” and Christian B’s “role in her disappearance are there”.
“The German officers leading this investigation think there is a lot more work to be done in Portugal and there are leads which could be followed up and chased down.”
The German authorities have admitted there will be no major progress before next year in their probe into Christian B.
Prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters said: “We haven’t got the information we need to charge Christian B.”
Meanwhile the MP for the McCann’s Leicester constituency yesterday urged Portuguese and German detectives to “work together” to solve the mystery of Madeleine’s disappearance.
Andrew Bridgen, the Conservative MP for Leicester, which is near to Kate and Gerry’s home in Rothley, hit out at reports the two police forces were at war over the case.
He said: “We need to bang some heads together and force the Portuguese Police and German prosecutor to work together for the sake of Madeleine McCann. It would be ludicrous ig disputes between agencies might allow the perpetrator to escape justice.”
