Shehbaz has been given an apology from the Daily Mail about claims of misuse of cash.
We acknowledge that the NAB has never charged Sharif with engaging in any unethical behavior in connection with the use of British taxpayer funds, the publication notes.
KARACHI:
On Thursday, the British daily Daily Mail issued an apology to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for what it called a “mistake” in a news report that was published on the 14th of July, 2019, in which it accused him of stealing money from the British government.
It has been reported that the article that was filed by investigative journalist David Rose has been withdrawn from the website of the newspaper as well as other platforms.
Shehbaz and his family were accused of embezzling millions of pounds out of the £500 million in aid that had been provided by the Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom for the victims of the earthquake that occurred in 2005 while Shehbaz was serving as the chief minister of Punjab.
On July 14, 2019, a report with the headline “Did the family of Pakistani politician who has become the poster boy for British international aid STEAL monies meant for disaster victims?” was made public.
In the troubling article, the British newspaper stated that it had reported on an investigation that was being conducted by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) into PM Shehbaz and suggested that the money that was being investigated “included a not insubstantial sum of British public money that had been paid to the Punjab province in DFID grant aid.” This was stated in reference to the money that was being investigated.
According to a statement that was released by the publication and made available on its website, “We accept Mr. Sharif has never been charged of any misconduct by the National Accountability Bureau of any wrongdoing in respect to British public money or DFID grant aid.”
The statement continued by saying, “We are glad to make this clear and apologise to Mr. Sharif for this error.”
In 2020, Prime Minister Shehbaz initiated legal action in the London High Court against the Daily Mail and Rose for their publication of an article that PM Shehbaz deemed to be “fabricated and defamatory” against him.
“The Daily Mail spread a false and malicious tale about a person that was completely made up by the author.
In the guise of fake accountability, it was a part of the propaganda campaign that [former prime minister] Imran Niazi initiated against the PML-N “he stated while speaking to reporters in London at a news conference.
Shehbaz, who was the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly at the time, responded to the allegation that was made in the Daily Mail report by stating, “If there was a shred of evidence against me of siphoning off millions of ponds, the unholy alliance of NAB and PM Imran would not have filed baseless references against me in Pakistan.” Shehbaz was refuting the allegation that was made in the Daily Mail report.
As soon as the news item was published in 2019, the PML-N immediately referred to it as a plot that had been devised against Shehbaz by the PTI government.
As the news of the article began to spread, Shahzad Akbar, who worked as an accountability aide for the then-Premier Imran Khan, praised the story in the Daily Mail and dared Shehbaz to sue him in a court in London.
He asserted that the government possessed “incontrovertible proof” to prove that the wealth amassed by the PML-N president’s family was the result of money laundering and other unethical business practices, and he said that the government possessed this evidence.
The United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) has debunked allegations that Shehbaz and his family misappropriated and laundered foreign aid funds. The allegations were made by a British newspaper.
In addition to this, the assistance agency stated that Shehbaz “denies any wrongdoing” and that the British journal “provides little substantial information to substantiate its claim.”
