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Dubai: A UAE-based relative of Madeleine McCann is trying to raise awareness in the Arab world of the young girl's disappearance.
Oil industry worker John Sweeney, an Abu Dhabi resident who is related to Madeleine's grandmother Eileen, said he is keen for Arabic speakers to learn about the plight of the four-year-old.
There are suspicions that Madeleine, who disappeared from her family's holiday apartment in Portugal on May 3, has been taken to an Arab country (Gulf News has withheld the name of the nation).
Sweeney is trying to promote a poster produced by British tabloid newspaper The Sun which includes some writing in Arabic appealing for help in the search to find Madeleine.
"We are trying to get Arabic-speaking people to be aware of the search for Madeleine. If there is someone out there who has seen Madeleine, this poster could be the thing that helps find her," said Sweeney, who like many of Madeleine's relatives, comes from Glasgow in Scotland.
Although he is only a distant relative of Madeleine - Eileen is his second cousin - Sweeney, a 53-year-old who has lived in the UAE for the past 13 years, is keen to help in the search to find her.
Media coverage
"The McCanns are really in a bind as far as finding their little girl is concerned and I think most people would want to do all they could to help find Madeleine. Any small thing I can do, I am happy to do," he said.
Madeleine, from Rothley in Leicestershire, was in Praia da Luz in Portugal's Algarve with parents Gerry and Kate McCann, brother Sean and sister Amelie, when she went missing.
While her parents were having a meal in a nearby restaurant, Madeleine was snatched from her bed. Despite heavy media coverage and extensive police enquiries, there have not been any confirmed sightings of the little girl.
Madeleine's uncle, John McCann, told Gulf News by telephone that he was pleased Sweeney was helping to encourage people in the UAE to look out for the four-year-old.
He said the family was "very aware" that there was a possibility that Madeleine had been taken by her abductor to an Arab country. "We are delighted that people throughout the world have shown an interest. John is a distant relative and it's great that the family in the wider sense is pulling together.
Call to help
Anyone with information about Madeleine can call Crimestoppers in the UK on 0044-1883-731336.
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