After the daily walked back its corruption accusations as false, the PM was quick to claim vindication over Twitter, asserting the allegations had been part of a smear campaign against him.
By Naveed Naqvi
The apology concerns an article published in the tabloid on July 4, 2019 accusing Sharif, then an opposition leader, of “stealing British foreign aid money”.
Sharif has always maintained his innocence, and the article, written by a David Rose, was seen as a hit piece back then, arranged by former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s accountability czar Mirza Shehzad Akbar.
The younger brother of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif took the newspaper and the reporter to court in the UK. The apology seems to have come has part of some settlement of the case, although no word of any such arrangement has arrived as yet.
“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”, says the Daily Mail apology. “We are pleased to make this clear and apologise to Mr Sharif for this error”.
The story had claimed that Sharif, during a prior stint as Chief Minister Punjab, had embezzled funds provided by the DFID for rehabilitation work in the wake of the 2005 earthquake.
The apology says that the story “reported on an investigation by Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau into Mr Sharif”, and that it suggested that the money under investigation a substantial sum of British public money that had been paid to the Punjab province in DFID grant aid.
Published in London, the Daily Mail is a middle-market British tabloid and news website. Founded in 1896, it is the United Kingdom’s highest-circulated daily. Its sister publication, the Mail on Sunday is the top-selling Sunday newspaper in the UK.
The apology is being celebrated by Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) party and especially its social media wing as a signal moral victory for an honest leader targeted with political smear.
Sharif himself took to Twitter to give thanks for his what he saw as his vindication, and to relate that Khan and “his minions” had attempted to smear him for three long years.
He lamented that his detractors had paid no heed to how their actions brought a bad name to Pakistan and jeopardised ties with a friendly country.
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