LONDON – Daily Mail, a leading publication in the United Kingdom, onThursday apologised to Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif forlevelling false allegations of corruption against him in an articlepublished in 2019.
The lawyers of the publication told the court that the publication hadwithdrawn all allegations against the PML-N president and his son-in-lawImran Khan Ali.
The publication also shared a clarification on its website. “In an articleconcerning Mr Shahbaz Sharif entitled ‘Did the family of Pakistanipolitician who has become the poster boy for British overseas aid STEALfunds meant for earthquake victims’ published on 14 July 2019 we reportedon an investigation by Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau into MrSharif and suggested that the money under investigation included a notinsubstantial sum of British public money that had been paid to the Punjabprovince in DFID grant aid,” it wrote.
“We accept Mr Sharif has never been accused by the National AccountabilityBureau of any wrongdoing in relation to British public money or DFID grantaid. We are pleased to make this clear and apologise to Mr Sharif for thiserror,” the Daily Mail concluded.
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In 2019, the British paper had alleged that Shehbaz, with the help of hisfamily members and some close confidants, had embezzled and laundered themoney out of £500million foreign aid that had been poured into Punjab forrelief activities after the massive earthquake that hit the country in 2005.
The news further said, “Legal documents allege that Shahbaz’s son-in-lawreceived about £1 million from a fund established to rebuild the lives ofearthquake victims – to which DFID gave £54 million from UK taxpayers”.
