British journalist David Rose on Tuesday denied that he asked for money to arrange Kaveh Moussavi's meeting with Pakistani prime minister’s close aide Shahzad Akbar to discuss the Broadsheet case.
In a series of tweets on Tuesday, Rose said, “THREAD. I’ve heard some rumours are swirling around about a meeting I arranged in October 2019 between Kaveh Moussavi and Shazad Akbar at which they discussed Kaveh’s dispute with Pakistan over the Broadsheet case.
“Now I’ve been contacted by some Pakistani journalists asking about this. For the avoidance of doubt: yes, I arranged the meeting with Shahzad at Kaveh’s request, but I made it clear I didn’t want to be paid for this.
“There was no settlement at the meeting. I had no further involvement. Please don’t ask me for any interviews, because this is my last word on the matter. I have no further comment on the Sharif meanings hearing, either, beyond what I've already tweeted.
“I’ve known Kaveh since 2003. It all started when he asked me to his house (very near mine) and told me about the litigation. He asked me to arrange a meeting with Shahzad.
“At first I thought he was joking, but when he repeated the offer by text, I told him (verbally) I couldn’t accept this. I never asked for and never received any payment in relation to this meeting.
“As I've already made clear, Kaveh Moussavi's claim that I asked him for money for arranging a meeting with Shahzad Akbar to discuss the Broadhseet case is false. I really can't imagine why he's saying this in public now, 17 months after the meeting.”
Sharing bits of his chat with Moussavi, Rose wrote, “My reply is below. He didn't seem too impressed. Well folks. You can decide who you want to believe. It's true he offered me money, but I refused it. But he did ask for money from me and my paper.”
Rose, who writes for Daily Mail, added, “But here's a funny thing. Earlier this month, after the preliminary hearing in the High Court in the Shahbaz Sharif defamation case, he told me he had information that would help us. But he asked for £1 million to provide it.”
He continued, “Maybe one of the reporters who interviewed him about the meeting with Mr Akbar will now be able to discover what this great info he implies he has about the Sharif family consists of. Let's hope he doesn't ask for a million to give it up.”