Daily Mail lawyers failed to woo former Punjab CM Shehbaz Sharif’s counsel to settle the defamation matter out of court, sources said on Tuesday.

According to insiders, a conditional offer to publish explanation on David Rose’s news rejected and the counsel of Shehbaz Sharif demanded payment of damages, tendering an apology, giving an explanation and removal of the story from the newspaper.

According to Barrister Rashid Aslam, such offers are made when the defence is weak. 

However, the journalist who wrote the article dismissed reports of a settlement. The UK paper has two weeks to submit evidence proof to the court.

The daily's lawyers made an offer to publish an explanation of Rose's article while Shahbaz's counsel demanded an apology, payment of damages, and removal of the article from the newspaper.

Reporter: Asad Malik