The father of Madeleine McCann said yesterday that he and his wife would “travel wherever is necessary” in their quest to get their daughter back after her abduction in Portugal 20 days ago.

Gerry McCann said that he was prepared to cross Europe to keep Madeleine’s image in people’s minds and encourage them to come forward with information. He said that he and his wife, Kate, were nowhere near ready return to Britain permanently and would “play our part” in extending the campaign to find Madeleine.

There have been reports of sightings of the missing girl across Europe and North Africa, all of which have been investigated by police. Mr McCann said he did not see a role for private detectives yet but that he would “consider sending somebody out” if he felt not enough work was being done in any country.

British officials will distribute posters of Madeleine in Marrakesh this week in the hope that they will jog somebody’s memory about a sighting of a girl resembling Madeleine in a petrol station. It emerged yesterday that a key chance to check the sighting was missed when CCTV footage was wiped before it could be studied by Moroccan police.

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Mohamed Zkhiri, honorary British consul in Marrakesh, who is organising the poster campaign, said: “Of course everyone is concerned – it’s a terrible thing that has happened. We have to mobilise in the best way to assist in the search for this young girl.”

As the Portuguese investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance was scaled down from 200 detectives to 50, Mr McCann called for compassion for the only official suspect, Robert Murat, a British father. He has been vilified by the Portuguese media since he was named by police as an official arguido, or suspect, last week.

“I would say as a family, we hope that everyone else treats any suspects the way we would hope to be treated and they are presumed innocent until someone is charged, arrested and convicted of any criminal offence,” Mr McCann said.

He refused to discuss whether he knew Mr Murat, 33, who lives 100 yards from the apartment from which Madeleine was abducted.

A spokesman for Mr Murat, who has collapsed twice since being questioned by police, said: “Robert will be very pleased. Some dreadful things have been said about him and they are not true.”

Mr and Mrs McCann, both 38, urged holidaymakers to help in the hunt for suspects by sending to police any photographs showing strangers that were taken in Praia da Luz in the two weeks before Madeleine was abducted on May 3. A website, www.madeleine.ceopupload.com, has been launched to receive digital photographs.

Detectives will use a biometric facial recognition programme to compare the faces of strangers against a database of known paedophiles and other criminals.

The McCanns will today visit the shrine of Fatima, in Portugal, where three children are said to have had a vision of the Virgin Mary in 1917.

Almost 500,000 pilgrims, many carrying photographs of Madeleine, visited Fatima 11 days ago to mark the 90th anniversary of the vision. The pilgrimage coincided with Madeleine’s fourth birthday. Mr McCann said: “Both of us have taken a great deal of strength from our faith.”

He returned to England on Monday. At the family’s village of Rothley, Leicestershire, he saw a display of thousands of yellow ribbons, cards, flowers and cuddly toys as a focus for prayers for Madeleine.

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