Withdrawing its corruption allegations against Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his family, the UK Daily Mail has tendered an unconditional apology for an “error” in an article published back in 2019.
Titled ‘Did the family of Pakistani politician who has become the poster boy for British overseas aid STEAL funds meant for earthquake victims’, the article was written by Daily Mail journalist David Rose.
The newspaper stated that Sharif, now the Prime Minister of Pakistan, “has never been accused by the National Accountability Bureau of any wrongdoing in relation to British public money or Department for International Development grant aid”. “We are pleased to make this clear and apologize to Mr. Sharif for this error,” it added.
In January 2020, Sharif filed a defamation claim against the “grotesque allegation”, demanding a retraction, damages, and an apology.
Soon after receiving the British daily's apology, Sharif hit out at his political rival Imran Khan, saying that the former Prime Minister and “his minions went to any limit to assassinate my character.”
"In their smear campaign, they didn’t bother if their actions brought a bad name to Pakistan and damaged its relations with friendly countries,” Sharif tweeted.
The newspaper removed its article on Thursday within minutes after the UK High Court said that all parties have decided to withdraw their claims after it was agreed that Daily Mail's owner Associated Newspapers Limited would apologize to Sharif, the Pakistan premier, and his son-in-law.