Man Convicted in Yemen Plot Runs for Birmingham Council

A convicted terrorist from Birmingham's past is seeking election to the city's council, aiming to represent a diverse ward amid ongoing debates over community leadership and security.

Shahid Butt, a 60-year-old British resident of Pakistani origin, announced his candidacy for the Sparkhill ward in the Birmingham City Council elections scheduled for May. Butt, who served five years in a Yemeni prison from 1999 to 2003, was convicted of conspiring with a group to attack the British consulate in Aden, an Anglican church, and a Swiss-owned hotel. Authorities in Yemen described the plot as involving an armed gang linked to Islamist militants, though no attacks were carried out and no one was harmed. Butt has consistently denied involvement, claiming his confession was obtained through torture and that evidence, including weapons, was fabricated. "It was all just made up," he said in a recent interview. "Nobody actually died, nothing happened at all."

Butt's criminal history extends beyond Yemen. In his youth during the 1980s, he was a member of a Pakistani street gang in Birmingham that clashed with white skinhead groups, leading to a prior jail term in the UK for violence. He has...