British papers apologize to Madeleine McCann's parents

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The Daily Express and Daily Star admitted the allegations and said that the comments were baseless and agreed in court to pay 550,000 pounds ( $1.1 million) in libel damages.

The Daily Express released a statement and said that the paper accepts that a number of articles in their newspaper suggested that the couple killed their daughter and then covered it up.

The Daily Express admitted that there was no evidence at all to support the theory and than said that the parents were completely innocent of any involvement in their daughter's disappearance.

The McCanns' lawyer Adam Tudor, at a high court hearing in London, said it was difficult to conceive a more serious allegation than to be falsely accused of being responsible for the death of one's daughter.

Tudor told the court that the articles were full of false claims which included theories such as the McCanns killed their daughter, sold her to pay off debts or were involved in "wife-swapping".

The court was told, by a lawyer for the newspapers, that Express newspapers regrets publishing the extremely serious allegations. The Sunday Express and the Daily Star Sunday are also expected to apologize in future issues.

The London Media law firm Carter-Ruck was hired by the McCanns to sue for libel and the McCanns said the money awarded would be donated to a fund set up to find their daughter. It is not known if the family will pursue action against the other newspapers.

Shortly before Madeleine's fourth birthday she disappeared and prompted a huge police investigation. Madeleine's parents believe she was abducted while they were dining with friends nearby.

The couple hired private investigators to help in the search for their daughter after Portuguese police named them as suspects in September.

There have been numerous reports of Madeleine being sighted from Morocco to Spain to France to Malta but the young girl remains missing.