Daily Mail apologises to PM Shehbaz Sharif

LONDON: British publication Daily Mail has apologised to Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif for publishing an article that accused him of embezzling British foreign aid money meant for earthquake victims, ARY News reported on Thursday.

According to details, the said article, written by investigative journalist David Rose, has now been removed from all platforms of Mail publishers.

However, it is pertinent to mention here that Daily Mail did not apologize for the allegations of money laundering and TT scandal against PM Shehbaz Sharif.

In a clarification posted on its website, the Daily Mail mentioned that their article concerning PM Shehbaz titled “Did the family of Pakistani politician who has become the poster boy for British overseas aid STEAL funds meant for earthquake victims” was published on July 14, 2019.

The report was based on an investigation by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) into PM Shehbaz and suggested that the money under “investigation included a not insubstantial sum of British public money that had been paid to the Punjab province in DFID grant aid”, the statement said.

It said that the premier has never been accused by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) of any wrongdoing in relation to British public money or DFID grant aid. “We are pleased to make this clear and apologise to Mr Sharif for this error,” Daily Mail added.

The article had claimed that PM Shehbaz Sharif had embezzled funds provided by UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) for the rehabilitation of the 2005 earthquake while he was chief minister of Punjab.

Earlier in November, the United Kingdom (UK) High Court of Justice directed Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif to pay the legal cost in the Daily Mail defamation case.

The British High Court of Justice ordered Shehbaz Sharif to pay £30,000 legal cost by November 23 in the Daily Mail defamation case. Moreover, Sharif’s son-in-law Ali Imran was also ordered to pay £27,055 legal cost.

Earlier, it was learned that the British court rejected PM Shehbaz Sharif’s plea for an indefinite adjournment in the Daily Mail defamation case.

According to details, Shehbaz Sharif’s Daily Mail defamation case was heard in the London court by Justice Matthew Nicklin.

READ: INFO MINISTER CLAIMS ‘DAILY MAIL FAILED TO PROVE ALLEGATIONS BEFORE UK COURT’

The court while rejecting Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s request for indefinite adjournment refused to give more time to the applicant.