‘Every word in story backed by document’

RAWALPINDI: Daily Mail journalist David Rose, whose report was published in UK’s newspaper, Sunday claimed that the money ‘stolen’ by the PML-N president, between the 2005 earthquake and 2012, also came from the UK's Department for International Development (DFID)-funded aid projects.

David Rose, during an interview with a private TV channel, narrated that how he had gathered material for his article and possessed evidence in this regard. On a question about denial of Shahbaz and DFID, he said: “Well if you actually look at thearticle, and you look at what this has said they did not revert anything they repeated the statement that they made which I reproduced in full in the article every word of that statement is in the article they made a claim that I provided an evidence, I have provided an evidence so there statement is really silly because there is evidence in the article and I invite your bureau’s to read it and you see what the evidence is.”

To another question, he said he cannot say for sure whether the actual money came directly from the money doesn’t come from this aid what is clear that there is evidence which in already presented in court in Pakistan when former finance director ERRA pleaded guilty last year that money was taking from ERRA and the UK was largest funder of ERRA so there are clearly big question to answer and what it is doing here.

The evidence presented in Pakistani court from the former finance director of ERRA pleaded guilty of stealing money from ERRA and he said in his statement that some of this money he passed on Ali Imran, the son-in-law of Shahbaz Sharif there is evidence in a court paper filed in court in Pakistan last year that is a fact.

About PML-N’s claim that the story was planted And printed only because Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was trying to malign party’s political stance, David Rose said the claim was so funny that it did not worth spending a time on it, adding that he tried many times to contact PML-N spokesmen Marriyum Aurangzeb, sent her detailed messages again and again, but she refused to answer.

He said today (Sunday) the PML-N put out a photograph showing him with Prime Minister Imran Khan to justify that it was a planted story, adding that the photograph was taken last year when interviewed Imran Khan. He said that he never contacted Imran after that.

About PML-N leaders saying that they were going to sue him in the UK, David Rose said: “Every word in that story is reported by the document every specific allegation is supported by the document.”

Rose denied that the PML-N had sent him any legal notice on his previous story on Sharifs’ property worth about two million pounds, adding that they even didn’t send a letter, email, or anything in this regard.