Daily Mail, a leading publication in the United Kingdom, on Thursday, apologized to Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif over false allegations of corruption against him.
According to reports the article claiming the corruption allegations over the sharif family was published in 2019. The lawyers of the publication told the court that the publication had withdrawn all allegations against the PML-N president and his son-in-law Imran Khan Ali.
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The publication also shared a clarification on its website. “In an article concerning Mr. Shahbaz Sharif entitled ‘Did the family of Pakistani politician who has become the poster boy for British overseas aid STEAL funds meant for earthquake victims’ published on 14 July 2019 we reported on an investigation by Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau into Mr. Sharif 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,” it wrote.
“We accept Mr. Sharif has never been accused by the National Accountability Bureau of any wrongdoing in relation to British public money or DFID grant aid. We are pleased to make this clear and apologize to Mr. Sharif for this error,” the Daily Mail concluded.
In 2019, the British paper had alleged that Shehbaz, with the help of his family members and some close confidants, had embezzled and laundered the money out of £500million foreign aid that had been poured into Punjab for relief activities after the massive earthquake that hit the country in 2005.
The news further said, “Legal documents allege that Shahbaz’s son-in-law received about £1 million from a fund established to rebuild the lives of earthquake victims – to which DFID gave £54 million from UK taxpayers”.
“I bow my head in humility before Allah (SWT) for my vindication. For [three] long years, Imran [and] his minions went to any limit to assassinate my character,” the prime minister said in a tweet hours after the publication published an apology note on its website.
The premier, who was the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly when the article was published, said in their smear campaign, the PTI did not bother if their actions brought a bad name to Pakistan and damaged its relations with a friendly country.
PM Shehbaz said his critics mocked and ridiculed him and his family through their baseless allegations, but “I had my unwavering faith in Allah, for only He could expose their brazen lies”.
“Disinformation [and] fake news have limited shelf life [and] truth is the ultimate victor. After NCA, Daily Mail story has proven it,” the prime minister tweeted.
Remember that the Daily Mail Published an article in 2019 claiming corruption allegations over the sharif family.
