The British publication issued a clarification published on its website on Thursday.
Islamabad,UPDATED: Dec 8, 2022 23:37 IST
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif
By Press Trust of India: A prominent British publication and news site has apologised to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for an “error” in an article it published in 2019 — in which it had accused the premier of “stealing British foreign aid money”, according to a media report.
British publication The Mail on Sunday and news site Mail Online on Thursday apologised to Shehbaz.
The said news story, written by investigative journalist David Rose, has now been removed from the publication’s website and other platforms.
Dawn reported that the article published on July 14, 2019, had claimed that Shehbaz had embezzled funds provided by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) for the rehabilitation of the 2005 earthquake while he was chief minister of Punjab.
It had quoted former accountability chief Shahzad Akbar and a few other individuals — none of whom were in an official position. The story was quickly refuted by the PML-N and the party had insisted that it was published “on the behest of (PTI Chairman) Imran Khan”.
It was also rejected by DFID, which said the body’s “robust systems protected UK taxpayers from fraud”.
In January 2020, the prime minister filed a defamation claim against the “grotesque allegation” claiming a retraction, damages and an apology.
In March this year, the newspaper submitted a 50-page response to Shehbaz’s defamation suit.
In a clarification published on its website, the British publication said: “In an article concerning Shehbaz 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 July 14, 2019, we reported on an investigation by Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau into 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 said that the premier “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 apologise to Sharif for this error,” Daily Mail added.
The article, quoting investigators and a “confidential investigation report”, had claimed that the money “stolen” by the PML-N president, between the 2005 earthquake and 2012, came from the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID)-funded aid projects, reported Dawn.