A convicted terrorist jailed for his part in an armed terror plot in Yemen is standing for election in the UK on a pro-Gaza platform.
As part of an alliance of independent candidates, Shahid Butt hopes to become a councillor in Birmingham in May. He is standing for election in the inner-city Sparkhill ward, where the majority of residents have a Pakistani background, and in a city that has seen tensions mount over immigration.
Butt, 60, was jailed for five years in Yemen in 1999 after being convicted of being part of a militant group planning attacks on the British consulate in Aden, an Anglican church and a Swiss-owned hotel.
The court heard the group comprised eight Britons and two Algerians supposedly sent to Yemen by extremist cleric Abu Hamza, who has since been extradited to the US and given a life sentence on terrorist charges. Butt claimed he was tortured to extract a confession.
He had also been jailed in Birmingham for violence in his youth, as part of a street gang taking on the far right.
Since his release from prison, Butt says he has campaigned against extremism.
He believes he can “unite a divided community”, and in a launch video for his campaign he said he was confident of victory.
Butt has previously encouraged Muslims to “learn to fight” in readiness for potential attacks and to stand together against people of other faiths.
Ahead of last November's controversial Aston Villa match against Maccabi Tel Aviv, which saw away fans banned and led to the retirement of the chief constable after an outcry over the decision, Butt called on Muslims around Britain to head to Birmingham to show solidarity for Palestine.
In an interview with the Birmingham Mail after announcing his candidacy, Butt addressed his violent past. “I am not a pacifist. If someone attacks me … I am not just going to turn the other cheek, I am going to defend myself,” he said.
“I will [also] be pre-emptive, as the law advises me, if I feel like my life is threatened, or my family, I will do a pre-emptive strike.
“But does that mean I go around oppressing or bullying people? No, I think that is disgusting.”
He has been outspoken against Israel’s war in Gaza, but insisted he was not anti-Semitic, saying he was “against any kind of apartheid behaviour”.
Birmingham has seen tensions increase as the debate on immigration intensifies.
Former Tory cabinet minister turned Reform MP Robert Jenrick caused controversy last year when he complained of “not seeing another white face” in the Birmingham neighbourhood of Handsworth. He described it as “one of the worst integrated places I’ve ever been to”.
A third of Birmingham’s 1.1 million population is Muslim.
Pro-Gaza candidates are expected to make gains in the May 7 local elections, with the Labour government braced for a backlash.
Butt disagrees with accusations that there has been an Islamic “takeover” of the region.
“There is a certain agenda pushing that, it is overhyped. They are giving us too much credit. Muslims are not that powerful,” he said.
Butt said his priorities in standing for election were to support the youth and their education, campaign against drugs and anti-social behaviour and achieve safer and cleaner streets.
